


Feels Like The End

by 4lw4ys_a_fri3nd_n3v3r_a_l0v3r



Series: True Identity [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Vernon Boyd & Erica Reyes, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Stiles, Derek is a Good Alpha, Gen, Good Aiden, Good Ethan, Good Peter, Hurt Sheriff Stilinski, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Major canon divergence, Multi, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Pre-Slash, Protective Stiles, Sheriff Stilinski Knows, Slow Build Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Stiles Has Issues, Stiles Has Nightmares, Stiles Has Panic Attacks, Stiles Has Secrets, Werewolf Sheriff Stilinski, Witch Curses, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-24
Updated: 2014-07-24
Packaged: 2018-02-06 02:16:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1840636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4lw4ys_a_fri3nd_n3v3r_a_l0v3r/pseuds/4lw4ys_a_fri3nd_n3v3r_a_l0v3r
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <strong>After the grand finale of the Alpha Pack, Stiles can't hide anymore.  The pack know something's up.  And it's time to explain.  About his family.  About what he knows.  About what happened.  It's time for a new beginning.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Stiles learnt years ago that running from a problem doesn't solve it.  It's not just time for a new beginning, it's time for closure.  So he decides to go back home.  Back to where it all began, back to where his family was killed.  Everything seems to be getting better here on out.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>But suddenly there's a witch.  And the Sheriff is dying.  And Ethan's ex-boyfriend calls with problems in the East.  And the pack don't trust the twins.  And there's a really annoying Alpha that Stiles almost kills, which just causes more problems.  And something's closing in, Stiles can feel it.</strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>Forget new beginnings.  This is starting to <em>Feel Like The End</em></strong>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Feels Like The End

**Author's Note:**

> After a long wait, which I am horribly sorry for, you finally have the next chapter in the story. I have to say, I'm not really happy with this piece. It was really hard to write, for one, I scrapped it, like three and half times. Meaning I scrapped it three times, and then I scrapped half of the forth draft.
> 
> At the same time, I am also pretty happy with it, because, after I filled it out, lots of stuff was happening and it ended up being a pretty cool piece.
> 
> Quite a few twists and turns in this. Some stuff that was unexpected, both for me and for you.
> 
> There will be some conversation spoken in other languages. Instead of posting them in those languages, I italicized the English meaning and put it in brackets particular to the language.
> 
> [ _Greek_ ]  
> { _Latin_ }  
> ( _Polish_ )
> 
> This is unbeta'd, for the most part, although, when it was at about eight and half thousand, someone did read over it to make sure it was okay. I didn't take their advice, but thanks for their input.
> 
> Anyway, have a good read and comments are pretty cool. Hopefully, I'll have the next piece ready soon.

**_About a Year Ago_ **

_The man ran as fast as he could, his feet pounding the pavement. The police were no longer on his tail, although why they had been chasing him in the first place, he had no idea. But he couldn’t think about it. He had a message to deliver._

_He pounded at the door of the seemingly abandoned shack. It was in the middle of nowhere and no one was meant to be living there. But the door creaked open and a man peered out._

_“What do you want?” he asked, his voice low and growling._

_“I found him,” the first guy panted. “The one she’s been looking for. He’s in Beacon Hills.”_

* * *

Scott hadn’t seen Stiles since the fight against the Alpha Pack over a week ago. None of them had. Not even Derek. He hadn’t returned to school and he didn’t seem to leave his house. The twins, on the other hand, had been seen leaving town with the Sheriff by Allison, which was even more confusing. How did the Sheriff even know the twins? Why were they leaving? Where were they going?

The most important thing on everyone’s mind right now, though, was Stiles.

The fight had raised a lot of questions. Like how did Stiles have magic? Why had he killed Deucalion? Or protected the twins? How did they know each other? And why did he seem to be hiding? _What_ was he hiding?

A lot of these questions were aimed at Peter and Cora, both of whom seemed to know more than they were letting on. But their lips were firmly sealed.

“Stiles will tell you when he’s ready,” Peter would say every time someone brought the subject up, which was often.

“It’s not my story to tell,” Cora repeated whenever Scott or Derek asked her about it. Eventually Derek gave up, figuring Peter was right. But Scott pursued the topic.

“Stiles clearly knows the twins well. And from before they came to Beacon Hills. Does that mean Stiles was a part of the Alpha Pack or something? Is that what Deucalion was talking about, right before Stiles killed him?”

Cora snorted with amusement, which Scott took to mean no. “Stiles is your best friend. You really can’t trust him to come to you when he’s ready?”

“I’m worried,” Scott protested. “We all are. Is it wrong to want to know what the hell is going on with him and the twins? What about his dad?”

Cora turned from where she was trying to make pancake batter. “Scott, I can’t tell you anything. I won’t. Stiles needs to do this. For more reasons that you realize. But trust me, trust your best friend. He is going to tell you.”

“How do you know?”

“I just do, okay? Now leave me alone, I’m trying to bake.”

Scott rolled his eyes but left the kitchen.

* * *

Stiles started appearing around town about a week later.

Isaac saw him leaving the grocery store with bags of food. Derek kept seeing him meeting with Peter and Cora but, no matter how much he asked, neither of the two would tell him anything about it. Lydia passed him in the street a couple of times but realized too late and by the time she looked for him, he would be gone. Allison saw him going into the school and, half an hour later, tried to stop him as he was leaving but was too slow. Scott reported on more than one occasion that he’d spotted Stiles’ jeep pulling away from the vet’s.

Deaton seemed to know a lot more about Stiles than he let on too, but he didn’t tell Scott what Stiles’ visits were about.

He just repeated what Peter told the pack: Stiles would tell them when he was ready.

* * *

“Why doesn’t he just tell us?” Scott snapped in frustration. “We’re supposed to be his friends. Why didn’t he tell us anything? Does he not trust us or something?”

“Maybe he was scared,” Lydia spoke up casually. Scott looked at her in confusion.

“Scared of what?”

“Think about it. He didn’t tell us about his magic. Look how we reacted to that. He didn’t tell us he knew the twins. Look how we reacted to that.”

“Yeah, but we reacted like that because he _hadn’t_ told us.”

“Or maybe we would have reacted like that anyway. Especially to the twins thing. And Stiles knew this. So he didn’t tell us because he was scared and he knew we would react like we did and we might push him out of the pack.”

“We wouldn’t do that,” Scott looked scandalized at the idea.

“Yeah, but does he know that?”

There was a silence as everybody thought about the question. Scott frowned. Cora exchanged a smile with Peter.

“So what do we do?” Scott asked. Everyone looked to Derek, who blinked.

“Well, we can’t tell him if we don’t ever see him,” he answered after a moment. “I think we should just do as Peter says, and let him come to us. He will, eventually.”

“But who knows when that could be?” Scott ran a hand through his hair.

“Saturday,” Cora piped up. “I invited him round on Saturday. For his birthday.”

There was a stunned silence.

“It’s his birthday?” Allison exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell us?” She was looking at Scott.

“Don’t look at me. I didn’t know when his birthday was.”

“How could you not know?” Lydia looked at him like he was an idiot. “You’re his best friend. Surely you asked him?”

“All the time,” Scott defended himself. “He just said not today. I gave up eventually.”

“Well, we gotta do something. Throw a party or go out for pizza or something.”

“I wouldn’t,” Cora shook his head. “He doesn’t celebrate his birthday anymore. He’s only coming round on Saturday because I told him it was time.”

“Time for what?” Isaac asked curiously.

“For explanations.”

“But what about his birthday?” Allison asked.

“I said the only reason he’s only coming round is because it’s time. But I never said it was the only reason I invited him over.”

* * *

“I thought we were throwing a party,” Scott frowned as he walked into the loft on Saturday, looking like it always did.

“Cora,” Stiles whined from the kitchen. “You weren’t supposed to tell them.”

Cora giggled in the kitchen. Derek shook his head from the sofa. “No party.”

Scott glanced at him as he headed for the kitchen. He greeted Stiles with a bit of an awkward smile, after not seeing him since the fight.

“You never told me it was your birthday,” he started.

“I never thought it was important,” Stiles shrugged, feeling a little discomfited himself. “I don’t celebrate my birthday much these days.”

“Why not?” Scott asked curiously. Stiles shrugged.

“Just don’t see much of a point.”

Scott watched him for a long moment. “Look, I don’t know if you know this, but we don’t care what happened before. I mean, we’d like to know, but it won’t change how we see you.”

“Scott…” Stiles took a deep breath, “what happened before, it’s horrible. You’ll hate me.”

“No, I won’t,” Scott answered firmly. “You’re my brother, Stiles, nothing you tell me could make me hate you.”

“This could,” Stiles murmured.

“Never,” Scott answered. “Blood brothers, remember?”

Stiles did remember then. He and Scott had once made a pact to be brothers forever, exchanging blood. Stiles always thought that Scott had never truly understood the meaning, but this proved that Scott had fully known what it meant to be a blood brother.

Stiles nodded. “Okay. But what about the twins?”

Scott frowned. “I can’t say they’ll be welcomed into the pack, not after what they’ve done. But we’ll back off, if that’s what you want.”

“I won’t let you hurt them,” Stiles replied firmly, his eyes sparking the tiniest bit. “You’ll leave them alone.”

“Agreed,” Scott nodded.

“Not agreed,” Derek stood in the doorway. “I want to talk to them.”

“Derek, you’re my Alpha,” Stiles sighed, “but this is not up for debate.”

“Special circumstances,” Cora supplied, Stiles nodding.

“I think what we really want,” Allison was behind Derek, “is an explanation, Stiles.”

Stiles sighed then pushed past everyone into the loft’s main room. “Yes, okay, we’ll get there. But where’s Peter? And Isaac and Lydia? They all need to be present.”

Allison fished for her phone. “Lydia says she’s on her way. Isaac?” She looked at Scott.

“Isaac’s with Peter upstairs,” Derek answered instead.

“Why?” Stiles asked, his face scrunching. Derek shrugged.

“I didn’t ask.”

Stiles wandered further into the main room. “Peter!” he called. “Come on, we need to talk about werewolf genetics.” Peter appeared on the steps, Isaac behind him.

“Is this the explanations thing starting?” Stiles nodded. Peter hopped over the stairs and landed with a heavy thud.

Stiles shuddered. “Don’t do that, I always think you’re going to break something.”

Peter grinned. “Werewolf, remember?”

Stiles rolled his eyes, then turned to everyone else. “Ready?”

Derek leaned in the doorway, while the others scrambled to get on the couch.

“Wait,” Allison paused. “Lydia?”

“She’s here,” Derek replied. A few minutes later, Lydia slid the loft door open and entered. She smiled when she saw Stiles.

“Hey, how you doing?” she greeted, moving across the room. Stiles shrugged.

“Been better, but I’m managing.”

“That’s good,” Lydia sat in the spare arm chair as the other three had claimed the sofa. “Are we getting explanations?”

Stiles nodded. “Yes. It’s time I tell you. Starting at the beginning.”

“Who you are?” Scott asked.

“No, how you become a werewolf,” Stiles clarified. There were varying expressions of disbelief and confusion on everyone’s face. “It’s important.”

“It is,” Peter agreed. Cora was nodding as she exited the kitchen.

Stiles took a few minutes to think about what he was going to say. “Okay, um, I guess…I should tell you first…where should I start?” He looked to Peter for help.

“Would you like me to get my big book out?” he asked.

“No, actually, I have it written down somewhere.”

“That’s shameful. You’re supposed to remember this. This is your heritage.”

Stiles sent Peter a look.

“You never got around to telling me this stuff,” Derek spoke up.

“You didn’t want to learn this stuff,” Peter pointed out. “Do you know how young Stiles was when he learnt this stuff?”

“Ten,” Stiles answered.

“Nine,” Peter corrected, not missing a beat.

“Really?” Stiles frowned. “I don’t remember that.”

“Clearly, if you had to write it down,” Peter snorted. Stiles scowled at him but he was amused. Lydia cleared her throat.

“Boys? Explanations?”

“The werewolf gene is recessive,” Stiles said, almost randomly.

“He remembers,” Peter cheered. Stiles rolled his eyes then turned to the pack.

“Werewolves pretty much boil down to genetics. And mutations. You’re all a bunch of genetic mutations. Even you,” he pointed at Lydia. “But also not you.”

She blinked at him. “What does that mean?”

“Eh, we’ll get to you,” Stiles turned to the rest of them. “Anyway, you guys are just genetic mutations. Which isn’t always a bad thing. Obviously. Ordinary werewolf genes are recessive to human genes. Which is why a human can be a carrier without being a werewolf. Beta and omega born wolves have two recessive genes. Like blond hair.”

“When a beta kills an Alpha and the power transfers, it causes a mutation. One of the recessive werewolf genes becomes a dominant gene. An Alpha gene. This mutation changes the eyes from gold to red. An ordinary Alpha has one dominant and one recessive gene.”

“What about a True Alpha?” Scott asked.

“I’m getting there. See, I could just tell you, but because you were a bitten wolf who is a True Alpha, it’s a little more complicated.”

“How come?” Lydia leaned forward, curious. She was always interested to learn something new.

“We’ll get to that. Anyway, an Alpha has special properties in their saliva that a beta or an omega doesn’t have. It’s why only Alphas can turn people. The properties in their saliva is what causes the mutation into a werewolf. Kind of like a mutagenic agent, is that a thing? A bitten wolf only has one recessive werewolf gene, but it is essentially fighting for dominance with the human gene, which is technically dominant.”

“How does that work?” Isaac asked. “If the werewolf gene is recessive, how can it fight for dominance with a dominant gene?”

“And win?” Lydia added.

“Why is it different for carriers of the gene?” Allison spoke up. “Why don’t the genes battle then?”

“One at a time,” Stiles lifted his hands. “It gets a bit complicated now. The fight for dominance is the reason for the lack of control in the beginning.”

“Well, that make sense,” Lydia commented.

Stiles glanced at Scott before continuing. “There is no cure. No way to return to being human after you have been bitten. When your gene mutates, your body does too, so it can fit with the werewolf gene. The human gene cannot handle the changes to the body, and so, if it wins dominance, it gives out…The body fails and the mind is right behind it.”

Stiles glanced towards Derek at this point, and was unsurprised to see him looking pained. Stiles had just told him why Paige had died.

“We don’t know if there’s a way to change this,” he continued a little softer, “and have the person accept the bite. But I would think they were too strong anyway.”

“No cure?” Scott repeated, almost sadly, although he’d come to terms with it. Stiles shook his head in answer.

“Even the rumors about Thailand are just rumors.”

“What rumors?” Isaac asked curiously.

“There is a rumor,” Peter spoke up, “that if you to a certain place in Thailand, there is someone who can exchange your wolf for magic, effectively turning you into a witch. These are, however, just rumors and you must remember that.”

“What about Jackson?” Lydia asked after a moment.

“Jackson was something of an anomaly,” Stiles answered. “Every person has magic. Even werewolves and their magic is expressed through their wolf. Magic has a great deal to do with your mind. If you think a certain way, that’s how things play out. If you hope for something to happen, it usually does. Like Derek said, sometimes what you are is reflected in what you become. Jackson was probably a very lonely person, and was probably searching for a friend he could trust and follow. This was translated into the Kanima.”

“Searching for a master,” Allison finished in dawning understanding.

“That makes sense, I guess,” Lydia murmured.

“It’s a hard thing to explain,” Stiles replied. “Magic always is. Trust me, I’ve been doing it for years and I still haven’t gotten the hang of it. But Jackson’s magic probably played a big role in his transformation into the Kanima.”

“So my magic is the Banshee?” Lydia clarified. “What about Allison?”

“Well, Allison’s magic is probably too small to count. The most dangerous thing she could do with her magic would be mountain ash.”

“I don’t understand what this has to do with you being magic,” Isaac interrupted.

“I’m getting there. Now, in genetics, an Alpha has one dominant gene. But a True Alpha has two. Most True Alphas are born betas. Except they have an Alpha gene. However, it is dormant. Does nothing. When they become Alphas, the mutation of the recessive gene into a dominant one turns the dormant gene into an active gene.”

“What about Scott?” Allison asked. “He wasn’t a born beta.”

“Well, Peter and I have actually talked about that a little. We have two theories. Either, when Scott was bitten, both his human genes mutated and while one became a recessive werewolf gene, the other became a dormant Alpha gene, which is just sitting in there doing nothing.”

“Or he was already a carrier of the gene,” Peter finished. There was a silence.

“Our preferred theory,” Stiles added.

Allison snorted in amusement. Scott paled a little.

“But how?”

“Chances were you had a werewolf ancestor somewhere in your lineage,” Stiles explained. “Preferably your mom’s side, because she is awesome. Your dad’s not, he would have made such a crappy wolf.”

“But my mom’s not a werewolf.”

“No, but she might possibly be a carrier. And so were you. So when you were bitten, your human gene mutated into a recessive gene, and your dormant recessive gene then mutated into a dormant Alpha gene.”

“We believe your ancestor must have been a True Alpha for that to happen,” Peter added.

“That brings me back to my earlier question,” Allison spoke up. “How does a carrier not face the same battle between the genes as a bitten wolf?”

“It’s all about adaption,” Stiles answered. “When a carrier of the gene is born, his body and his human gene have already adapted around the werewolf gene. However, when a person is bitten, the mutated gene and the mutated body have adapted to each other, but the human gene hasn’t. They basically don’t fit together but in a carrier, they do because they were born together.”

“I still don’t understand how I could have been a carrier,” Scott murmured, still stuck on that fact.

“Well, looking back, I can say the idea isn’t all that surprising. You adapted to being a werewolf surprisingly easy, learning control, learning the shift, etcetera. It was almost too easy for you to have been fully human prior to the bite.”

“So what does genetics have to do with your magic?” Isaac asked.

“Almost there,” Stiles promised. “Now, when it comes to the children of werewolves, most werewolves will have at least one child who is human. This child will most likely be a carrier of the werewolf gene without being a werewolf.”

“But there are exceptions,” Peter picked up when Stiles fell silent. “Both Alphas and True Alphas can have children with fully human children who aren’t carrier but in fact witches. Some kind of mutation means the werewolf gene forms as magic in the blood instead.”

“But that’s unrelated. I mean, Stiles isn’t the child of an Alpha, is he?” Scott laughed but it faded when he looked at Stiles. “Stiles?”

“My mother was a True Alpha,” Stiles answered quietly and strangely guarded.

“What?” Scott burst out. “How is that possible?”

Stiles remained silent.

“Genetics,” Peter supplied instead, a hint of amusement. Scott glared at him.

“How come we didn’t know then?”

Stiles shook his head, his expression stoic. “It’s complicated. Anyway, moving on. Pack hierarchy, as you already know, goes Alpha, Beta, Omega. But it does get more complicated. True Alphas are higher than Alphas, but only when they are Alphas. The next is the Alpha’s Mate. They are the only ones who an Alpha will submit to in their pack. Next comes the Second-In-Command, who will step up to lead the pack when the Alpha can’t. It is often that the Mate and the SIC are the same.”

“Stiles,” Scott repeated but Stiles talked over him, while Peter shook his head softly.

“Next up, is the emissary. The Alpha will confer first and foremost with his Mate/SIC and his emissary before reporting to his betas. There are two types of betas. Normal betas and wandering betas, which are in between betas and omegas.”

“Wandering betas are a myth,” Derek spoke for the first time since Stiles had started explaining.

“No, they’re not, my sister was one-” Stiles snapped.

“Stiles!” Aiden burst into the loft, cutting him off mid-sentence. “It’s Dad.”

Stiles paled.

* * *

The witch hummed as she tapped her fingers against each of her jars before choosing a small one. She spun around and opened the opposite cupboard, pulling out her sewing kit.

“A jar,” she mentally ticked off. “Needles. There’s soil in my plant pots. What’s left? Oh, that’s right. Blood.”

She started humming again as she wandered across the kitchen to her spice rack. However, instead of spices, there were little test tubes of blood. All of them were labeled. She picked out a few and put them back until she found the one marked _Dan Stilinski_.

“Perfect,” she smiled. She draped a table cloth over the kitchen table, placed her potted cactus on top and then sat down. She opened the jar first, sniffing it. It was clean, although she already knew, because she had cleaned it, but there was nothing wrong with being safe. Then she opened her sewing kit, picking out a needle and pricking her finger.

She let three drops of blood land in the bottom of the small jar. Then she took a handful of soil and sprinkled it into the jar until it covered her blood.

She picked up the test tube of blood and poured the few drops of that on top of the soil.

“My blood, listen to me. Infect this target, destroy this target. My blood, make him feel pain felt by no other. My blood, kill him.”

As she was talking, she had been dropping needles into the jar. Nine of them. She twirled a tenth between her fingers before dropping it into the jar with a smirk.

* * *

“Put him on the sofa,” Stiles directed, staying calm despite his rising heartbeat. Ethan helped his dad over to the sofa. The Sheriff groaned, clutching his chest, as he was propped up by his son.

Scott moved quickly off of the sofa to give them room.

“Shouldn’t we get him to a hospital?” Lydia asked worriedly, glancing at her Alpha for help. “He looks like he’s having a heart attack.”

“It’s not a heart attack,” Stiles and Aiden in unison. Derek shook his head in agreement, looking troubled. That was when blood started seeping through the Sheriff’s shirt.

Stiles swore and ripped the shirt open. Ethan stumbled back in shock. Long, deep slashes covered the Sheriff’s chest, blood flowing down. Lydia gasped.

“Get me towels,” he ordered. “And warm water. Gauze. Cotton wool. And Aiden,” he gripped the teen’s hand tightly, “get me Deaton.”

Aiden was off like a shot, while Cora dragged Ethan to the kitchen.

“What can we do?” Scott asked. Stiles just shook his head.

“Was he attacked?” Allison asked instead.

“Yes,” Stiles replied grimly but he offered no more information.

Cora returned quickly with the water and cotton wool and gauze. “Here. Is he going to be okay?”

“I don’t know,” Stiles answered, his voice wobbling. He pressed the towels to the wounds to stem the blood flow. “Hold them there?” he requested Cora, who complied.

Stiles started to clean the blood from one of the Sheriff’s wounds but came to the horrible realization that the blood wasn’t stopping or even slowing. Stiles began to panic.

“Deaton better hurry the fuck up,” he muttered.

Scott chewed his lip in worry. Stiles only swore when things were bad.

“Stiles,” the Sheriff suddenly groaned.

“It’s okay, I’m right here, uncle,” Stiles grasped Dan’s hands with his own blood covered one. “You’re going to be okay, just hold on.”

“Not gonna work…” the Sheriff coughed weakly. “Not…this time…not strong enough.”

“Just hold on,” Stiles repeated. “Deaton’s on his way.”

Stiles pressed his hands down firmly, trying to stem the flow of blood. His eyes blurred.

“What’s going on?” Isaac asked. “What’s wrong with him?”

“From the looks of things, I’d say witch,” Peter supplied from behind.

“Targeting the Stilinskis?” Cora murmured.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Peter answered.

“Deaton’s here,” Isaac spoke up.

“Why isn’t it stopping?” Lydia asked, staring wide eyed at the Sheriff.

“Because it’s a witch,” Cora replied. “Why is it attacking you, though?” she directed at Stiles.

“The Alpha Pack teamed up with witches,” he answered softly and the room went quiet.

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Scott asked, glancing between the two just as Deaton burst into the room, Aiden hot on his heels.

“Deaton,” Stiles relaxed a fraction. “Help me. Help _him_.”

Deaton started examining Dan closely. “Witches, I presume. These wounds were healed, you told me, didn’t you?”

“Healed them myself. No scars. Lost my magic for about a month.” Stiles clutched Dan’s hands even tighter.

“Stiles…my magic doesn’t come close to yours,” Deaton looked at him. “You’ll have to do it.”

“Not so fast,” Peter interjected. “If this is an attack against the Stilinskis, then Stiles losing his magic in a bid to heal his uncle could be exactly what the witch wants.”

“Well, we have to do something,” Ethan nearly screeched before bursting into sobs. “Please.”

Aiden pulled his brother into a hug. “Stiles?”

“You need to make a decision,” Deaton pressed gently. “What do you want to do?”

Stiles stared down at his dying uncle. “Help me prolong his life.”

“Stiles,” Aiden burst out, moving forward, but Stiles held up a hand and stopped him.

“Until we decide what to do,” he added.

“Stiles, that’ll be agonizing for him,” Deaton began.

“You think I don’t know that?” Stiles shouted, cutting him off. He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t know what to do. If I heal him, I lose my only defense against the witch. If I don’t, he dies, and the Alpha pack is winning again without even being here. So until I can figure out what to do, please, help me prolong his life. Just a little bit. Just enough for us to make a decision.”

Deaton looked worried. But he nodded. “Okay. But only for a while.”

Aiden looked troubled but he trusted Stiles, so he stepped back.

“Thank you,” Stiles sighed, relaxing a little more.

Deaton directed him with the spell, adding his own power until the Sheriff’s life had been lengthened to survive the next week.

“What do we do now?” Ethan asked, wiping his eyes.

“You can…You can leave him here,” Derek offered, unexpectedly. “If you want. That way, his wounds won’t get worse from being transported.”

Stiles nodded. “Thank you. You understand, though, that we won’t be leaving.” He gestured to himself and the twins.

“I had taken that into consideration, yes,” Derek bobbed his head once.

“And you’re okay with it?” Scott asked, glancing at the twins.

“Fine,” Derek answered. There was an edge to his voice that suggested he had doubts, but Stiles was his pack and he still trusted him, even after everything.

“Thank you,” Stiles repeated. Peter must have sensed something because he pulled Stiles into a hug, moments before the younger man burst into tears.

* * *

After everyone else had left, Derek and Peter moved Dan into the spare room. Stiles sent Ethan and Aiden home to get some proper sleep. They had complained and argued when Stiles had asked them at first but eventually Stiles had snapped and ordered them to go home. It must have been something to do with his True Alpha mother, Derek mused, that made the twins obey him.

Stiles, however, had been watching over his uncle for hours. He hadn’t gone to sleep, Derek had been checking on him regularly enough to know that. Isaac had gone home with Scott, Peter had gone off somewhere and Cora had volunteered for some late night grocery shopping, leaving just Derek, Stiles and Dan in the loft.

“You should get some sleep,” Derek said from the doorway, at around three in the morning. Stiles hummed noncommittally, looking exhausted after performing the spell earlier. “I’m serious, Stiles. You won’t be able to do much good if you’re dead on your feet.”

“I’m fine, Derek,” Stiles replied, with an edge of irritableness.

“Stiles,” Derek moved further into the room. “I’ve had more sleep than you tonight.”

Stiles shrugged. “I need to watch my uncle.”

“No, what you need to do is get some sleep,” Derek dropped his hand onto Stiles’ shoulder, causing the younger man to look at him. “I’m your Alpha. And I order you to go to bed. No arguments.”

Stiles stared at him for a long moment. “Can you-”

“Watch over him while you sleep?” Derek finished, before gesturing to the door. “Go, Stiles. We’ll be here when you wake up.”

Stiles pushed himself to his feet. “Thank you,” he murmured as he moved past Derek. “Wake me if anything changes, okay?”

“Yes,” Derek nodded. “See you in a few hours.”

Stiles hesitated but, at Derek’s look, sighed and went to bed.

* * *

“How is he doing?” Peter asked. Derek glanced up from his book.

“Which one?”

“Either.”

“Well, the Sheriff is stable. No changes in heartbeat, or breathing or anything. Stiles is sleeping in my room. I sent him away about an hour ago. He was looking pretty tired.”

Peter nodded. “That spell took a lot out of him. And Deaton.” He paused. “Have you thought about this?” He gestured to the Sheriff. “About what _you_ might have to do?”

Derek frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“The curse cast on Dan is a very powerful one. It would take all of Stiles’ power to heal him. But there is another way. A way that involves Dan being turned into a werewolf.”

Derek stared for a moment at Peter. “Will Stiles even agree to that? I mean, look how long it took for him to tell his dad-”

“Uncle,” Peter corrected, just as a realization dawned on Derek’s face.

“Oh.”

“Yes,” Peter nodded, just as Stiles awoke with a scream. “Now, go. I’ll look after the Sheriff.”

Derek was gone in a flash, speeding into his room to get Stiles. The teen was hyperventilating on the bed, sweat pouring down his brow. Derek sat on the bed, right in his line of sight.

“Stiles, look at me,” he commanded, carefully taking Stiles’ hand and pressing it against his own pulse point in his wrist. “Listen to me, okay? I’m right here. Just look at me. Listen to me.”

Stiles’ eyes focused on Derek’s, and Derek held his gaze, keeping his voice even. He placed Stiles’ other hand on his chest.

“I want you to breathe when I breathe, okay?” he said, breathing deeply then letting it out slowly. He had to do it a couple more times, before Stiles managed to drag in a ragged breath and blow it out. Derek nodded, encouraging him to do it again.

Stiles breathed in again and again.

“Good,” Derek praised softly. “Just keep going, okay? You’re doing brilliantly.”

Stiles nodded slowly. After a while, his breathing evened.

“You okay now?” Derek asked, gently.

“Yeah, I think so,” Stiles replied, his voice a little shaky. “Thank you.”

“It’s okay,” Derek smiled briefly. “Want to go back to sleep now?”

Stiles hesitated then nodded. “Look after my uncle?”

Derek nodded. “Of course.”

Then he left Stiles to sleep.

* * *

“Have you decided what to do?” Deaton asked. Stiles shook his head.

“I’m worried about using my magic, in case the witch comes after me.”

“Have you considered asking Derek for help?” Ms Morrell was standing in the corner.

“Yes,” Stiles glanced between the two. “But I’m scared.”

“Of what?”

“Scared he’ll say no, scared my uncle won’t want the bite, scared the twins won’t want him to have the bite…scared that it won’t work.”

“Stiles, you know how powerful the bite is,” Deaton answered. “There’s no chance it won’t work.”

“But I don’t know how powerful this spell is,” Stiles countered. “I mean, look how much energy it took to prolong his life. Maybe the bite won’t be powerful enough.”

“Well, who says it only has to be the bite?” Marin asked. “I mean, Derek could bite Dan, but nothing’s stopping you from making sure it works.”

“A combination of your powers,” Deaton mused. “It would work. And you wouldn’t have to worry about your uncle dying or losing your powers.”

Stiles frowned. “I’d have to talk to the twins.

“Naturally,” Marin agreed. “But if it comes down to it, I’m sure they will agree.”

Stiles nodded, looking a little bit less tense. “Thank you. I should get back. The twins are keeping an eye on him but I don’t want to leave him for too long.”

Marin and Deaton nodded, and Stiles left.

* * *

“I need to talk to you,” Stiles approached Derek the next day, when he was sitting with the pack. “Preferable alone.”

Derek glanced around at everyone then nodded. “Sure.”

Stiles smiled but it was shaky. “Thanks.”

Derek led him through to the kitchen. “What’s this about?” he asked kindly.

“It’s about my uncle,” Stiles twisted his hands together as they sat at the small dining table in the corner of the room. “I need to ask you something. And it’s important.”

Derek nodded. The Sheriff had been getting worse over the last few days, Stiles’ attempts to prolong his life were beginning to fail.

“I need you to bite him,” Stiles rushed out. “I know it’s a lot to ask of you and it’s completely understandable if you say-”

“Yes,” Derek interrupted, cutting him off. Stiles froze, his mouth hanging open.

“What?”

“Yes, I’ll bite him,” Derek nodded.

“Are-Are you sure?” Stiles asked, still stunned.

“Yes, I’m sure. Stiles, you’re in my pack. I’d do anything you asked.” Derek flushed a little but pushed on. “I can see how important your uncle is to you. If biting him keeps him alive, then I’ll do it. No questions, no doubts, nothing. I’ll do it.”

Stiles eyes filled with tears. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“No need to thank me,” Derek replied softly, reaching to briefly squeeze Stiles’ hand. “You understand, though, that it-it might not work?”

“He’s a carrier,” Stiles wiped his eyes. “It’ll work. It’s whether it works against the spell, that’s what worries me.”

“Your uncle is a carrier?” Derek asked curiously.

“Yeah, um, it’s kind of a long story, but my grandfather was an Alpha. My uncle and my dad are/were carriers.”

Derek nodded a little. “Why did you never tell us?”

Stiles shrugged, looking away. “It would have raised too many questions. You would have questioned my loyalty, questioned my power etcetera.”

“Can I ask, who are you loyal to?” Derek asked cautiously.

“You,” Stiles looked at him like he was an idiot. “You’re my Alpha, aren’t you?”

“Still?” Derek asked.

“What do you mean by that?” Stiles frowned a little. “Yes, you’re still my Alpha. Why wouldn’t you be?”

“It’s not like I’m a very good Alpha,” Derek shrugged. “Scott still isn’t a part of my pack.”

“Yes, well, that’s Scott, not me. I was raised in a pack. I can’t not be in one.”

“And I’m your Alpha?”

“Instinct,” Stile shrugged, which seemed to settle Derek.

“Okay, when would you like me to bite your uncle?”

“What?” Aiden exclaimed from the doorway, causing Derek and Stiles to whip round. “Why would you bite dad?”

“Aiden,” Stiles stood up and moved over to him. “I was just going to talk to you and Ethan about this. I’ve been thinking. I don’t know if I want to heal him myself.”

“What?” Aiden stared at him hurt.

“No, I mean I do,” Stiles hurriedly continued. “It’s just, if I do, then I won’t have any power left, and if she goes after you or Ethan or someone else, then there’s no one to heal them.”

“The bite can be very powerful in these situation,” Derek added. “And with little chance your…father will reject the bite, then it should help to break the curse.”

Aiden glanced between him and Stiles. “Are you sure?”

“I wouldn’t be considering this if I wasn’t sure,” Stiles answered. “I promise.”

“I’ll have to talk with Ethan.”

“I’d rather do this with your consent anyway.”

Aiden hesitated. “Not that it will end up like this, but would you do it, even if we didn’t agree?”

Stiles nodded. “We’ve come too close to losing him before. I wouldn’t take that chance again.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to Ethan.”

Stiles nodded then turned back to Derek. “Probably tomorrow.”

Derek nodded his confirmation

* * *

Aiden and Ethan were already there when Derek got up the next morning. Stiles was giving them a hug when he came down.

“Hey,” Stiles greeted. “Are-Are you still sure about this?”

“If everyone’s in agreement,” Derek nodded as he headed into the kitchen.

“Deaton will be here later,” Stiles followed him. “So we can make sure it really works.”

“That’s fine,” Derek glanced at him, grabbing the bread. “Hungry?”

“Not particularly,” Stiles shook his head, leaning against the door frame. “I might be later, depending on the amount of magic I use.”

Derek nodded. “So that part’s true? About magic and energy?”

“Pretty much. It’s not a major connection, but before, after I healed Dan the last time, I couldn’t use magic for at least a month. I slept all the time, only waking to eat.”

“What happened the last time?”

Stiles glanced away. “I’m going to go wait with Aiden and Ethan. Let us know when Alan gets here, please.”

Then he walked away.

Derek frowned. Something bad had definitely happened to the teen. His scent, when Derek had asked, had been overflowing with grief for the briefest moment before Stiles had been able to catch it and hide it. But he wasn’t saying anything.

“Deaton’s here,” Peter popped his head into the kitchen. Derek nodded.

“Peter,” he suddenly asked. “What happened to Stiles?”

Something flashed across Peter’s face but he shook his head. “That’s not my story to tell.”

“Okay,” Derek nodded. “I’ll just get a drink then I’ll be through.”

Peter disappeared and Derek heard him go let Deaton. He downed a glass of water before heading to meet everyone in the spare room.

Aiden and Ethan were murmured to each other, then they stood back to let Derek through.

“Ready?” Deaton asked. Both Stiles and Derek nodded. “Stiles, you understand the risks. Ethan, Aiden, you too?”

Ethan looked worried but he nodded too.

“Shall I?” Derek asked. Deaton gestured for him to go ahead.

Derek kneeled by the bed, carefully lifted the Sheriff’s wrist and sank his fangs into his flesh.

* * *

“Has he been in there all day?” Cora asked, when she came home with food for dinner. Derek nodded, helping her carrying it into the kitchen.

“The twins left a few hours ago with Deaton. I don’t know where they went though.”

“We should take him some food,” Cora suggested worriedly.

Derek shook his head. “Wait until later. He’s too focused on his uncle to eat right now.”

Cora chewed her lip but shrugged and unpacked the food. “The twins will be back soon, I’m sure. They wouldn’t leave their dad for too long, not at a time like this.”

Derek hummed. “Speaking of that, would you mind explaining about their family?”

Cora thought about it for a moment. “Well, there’s not really much to tell.”

“Yeah, maybe to you, but I thought Stiles was an only child living with his Sheriff father.”

Cora tilted her head before nodded. “I guess. Let’s see. Claudia Stilinski was the Alpha. A True Alpha. But before she was the Stilinski Alpha, she was actually part of our pack.”

Derek raised his eyebrows. “Really?” he asked, surprised.

“Claudia was an orphaned wolf,” Peter appeared behind them. “She entered our territory unknowingly. Your mother took pity on her and invited her into the pack. For some years, Claudia was Claudia Hale.”

“Why did she take our last name?” Derek asked intrigued.

“Well, she was an orphan from birth. Never really had a true family. Until Talia took her in. The change of last name was like a way to truly be a part of it.”

“How long was she a part of the pack?”

“A long time. Your mother found when she was a young Alpha. Claudia was in her late teens.”

“So what happened?”

“Claudia met and fell in love with John Stilinski of the Stilinski pack. Back then, they weren’t really well known of powerful. In fact, their pack consisted of the Alpha and his two sons, both humans. And twins. John and Dan. Claudia married John.”

“With the blessing of both Alphas, Claudia switched packs. An alliance was also formed between the two packs, an outcome of the marriage. Talia wanted to keep an eye on Claudia, considering she used to be a Hale.”

“Claudia, being a True Alpha,” Cora continued, “took the position at the head of the pack when the Stilinski Alpha died. Shortly after, John asked for the bite.”

“How do you know this?” Derek asked. Cora shrugged.

“I asked mom.”

“Anyway, about a year later, they had their first child.”

“Stiles,” Derek guessed. Peter nodded.

“Of course, Stiles is a nickname, but only Deaton knows his real name now. But he was born fully human. And a witch. Destined to be the emissary of the pack.”

“The next born was Allie,” Cora looked to Peter for confirmation. “The wandering beta. Full name Aletheia Prawdziwość Stilinski.”

“That’s a mouthful,” Derek raised his eyebrows.

“Well, it’s Greek and Polish, what can you expect?”

“I didn’t think wandering betas existed,” Derek looked at Peter.

“Boyd and Erica are wandering betas of sort.”

“They aren’t a part of my pack anymore though.”

“Yes, they are. Thanks to Stiles,” Cora replied. Derek frowned and made a mental note to ask Stiles about it later.

“Okay, what about the rest of his family?”

“Well, next was Willow. She was a True Alpha and would have been the next Alpha of the pack when Claudia died.”

“Wilkołak Lycaon Stilinski,” Cora added, “was her full name.”

“Joel, or Żołnierz Ares Stilinski was the middle son. Then Ellie was the youngest daughter. Her name was Elpis Nadzieja Stilinski. And the youngest was Helios Słońce Stilinski.”

“Also known as Leo.”

Derek blinked, absorbing all the information. “What’s with all the Greek and Polish?”

“My mother was Polish,” Stiles announced from the doorway. He looked absolutely exhausted but quite cheerful. “She didn’t know her parents or her heritage but her accent was decidedly Polish, so she was considered to be of Polish descent.”

“And the Greek?”

“Thalia was the Greek muse of comedy.”

“My mother’s name,” Derek murmured.

“Mom liked to find meanings in everything,” Stiles shrugged. “She was very observant, very thoughtful and very deep.”

“But my mother wasn’t named after a muse,” Derek replied. Cora looked confused as well. She hadn’t known this part.

“Are you sure about that?” Peter asked. “The Greek language and mythology is everywhere in the world. It’s the only mythology that is true, for the most part.”

“It’s not unusual for supernatural children to be named after a Greek legend,” Stiles added.

“Are you named after a Greek God?” Cora asked him. Stiles snorted and shook his head.

“No, I’m not. Unfortunately, I have a Polish name.”

Derek and Cora leaned forward, like they were expecting him to tell them what his real name was. Stiles laughed.

“I’m not telling you what it is, though.”

“Fuck you, Stilinski,” Cora rolled her eyes. “One day.”

“Cora’s been trying to figure out my name for years,” Stiles informed Derek as he moved to get a glass of water. How did he know where everything was already?

“Deaton’s the only one who knows it,” Derek repeated Cora’s earlier words.

“Yep,” Stiles replied. “And that’s how it’s going to stay.”

“So the twins don’t know it?”

“They’re too young. I was given the name Stiles when I was three. My uncle does know it, before you ask, but he won’t tell you.”

Derek leaned back in his seat. “Speaking of, how is your uncle?”

“He’ll be fine,” Stiles smiled. “The bite took. It will be a few days because his body needs to heal from the spell, but after that, he’ll be up and about like normal. Just in time.”

“Just in time for what?” Derek frowned.

Stiles glanced at Peter. “I’ve decided to return home.”

A silence fell in the kitchen.

“Home where?” Derek asked in confusion.

“Just a little place on the East Coast. It’s called [ _City of Myth_ ],” Stiles answered.

“What?” Derek blinked. “Say that again?”

“[ _City of Myth_ ],” Stiles repeated, smiling. “It’s Greek for ‘City of Myth’.”

“You know Greek?” Derek asked. Stiles nodded.

“It’s my second language. I learnt it when I was three. My mother enjoyed the culture.”

Derek took a moment to process. “So…what happened?”

Stiles face closed down immediately and Derek regretted asking the question.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, without thinking about it. “You don’t need to tell me just now.”

Stiles’ expression lightened a little. “Did I just hear you apologize?”

Derek frowned in confusion then rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Ha, Derek Hale just apologized. To me!” Stiles laughed like he was okay but no-one missed the shadows on his face.

“You should go to bed, Stiles,” Cora suggested softly. “Get some sleep.”

Stiles nodded. “Yeah, I’ll see you guys later.” He stood and left.

* * *

“What does going home mean?” Scott asked after Stiles had told them as such.

“It means I’m returning to the town I was born and raised in and the town I class as home.”

Dan leaned against the wall behind him. He’d taken to the bite well, probably because he was a carrier, and had good control. “Beacon Hills isn’t our home, Scott.”

“Not yet, at least,” Stiles added, when he saw Scott’s hurt expression. “We have unfinished business there. Stuff to collect. Closure to find.”

Lydia frowned. “How long will you be gone?”

“As long as it takes,” Stiles shrugged. “Who the hell knows what’s happened since we left? It has been five years after all.”

“You could come with us if you wanted,” Dan offered, causing Stiles to whip round to face him. “You’re a part of their pack, Stiles, they’re not going to like you traveling to the other side of the country. They can come with us.”

“You can be a part of the pack too,” Scott offered, glancing at Derek.

“Oh, no, son,” the Sheriff shook his head. “Stiles might be my Alpha but I’m pretty much a lone wolf from here on out.”

Stiles apparently choked on nothing. “I’m your Alpha?”

“Of course you are,” Dan smiled briefly. “You’re the Alpha of the Stilinski pack, aren’t you?”

“You’re an Alpha?” Scott burst out.

“Yes,” Stiles answered tightly. “Although it is not a title I took willingly.”

Ethan snorted humorlessly in the corner.

“Anyway,” Dan continued. “If you want to, you can come with us.”

“Where are we even going?” Isaac asked.

“[ _City of Myth_ ],” Stiles replied. There were varying looks of confusion. “It means City of Myth. In Greek.”

“You speak Greek?” Lydia asked.

“I speak Polish, Greek, and Latin,” Stiles answered.

“Seriously?” Lydia raised her eyebrows.

“Would you like me to say something else in Greek?”

“Yeah,” Scott nodded excitedly.

Stiles sighed. “[ _My name means witch in Polish_ ].”

“What does that mean?” Allison asked.

“I can speak Greek,” Stiles answered promptly. His heart remained steady but the twins still sent him a look. He shrugged.

“Do you want to come with us?”

“I’d like to,” Derek spoke up. “Being your Alpha and all.”

“What about us?” Isaac asked. “If we stay behind, who’d lead the pack?”

“Scott,” Stiles answered, turning back to face the pack. “Scott’s second in command. Or at least he would be, if he was in the pack.”

“Wait, what?” Scott looked to Derek for confirmation. He nodded.

“You’re a True Alpha, Scott,” Stiles explained. “You’d be the one to step up if Derek…”

He left the sentence hanging, but everyone knew what he was saying.

“So if Derek goes, I would have to stay?” Scott asked.

“You don’t have to, but it’s preferable, yes.”

“Who would stay and who would go then?” Isaac asked.

“Decide it among yourselves,” Stiles shrugged. “There are no requirements. If you all want to come, then Scott doesn’t need to stay.”

“Well, I want to go,” Lydia said right off the bat while Stiles turned to talk with his family.

“Are you driving or flying?” Stiles asked his uncle.

“Flying. We’ll pick out a place for us to stay until we get back.”

“I was thinking of a cross country drive,” Stiles answered. “So you wouldn’t need to leave when I leave. You could come later.”

“If that’s what you want to do,” the Sheriff nodded. “That would work better for me and getting time off of work.”

“Okay, that’s cool,” Stiles smiled. He glanced at the twins and they nodded. He turned back to the pack. “Made a decision yet?”

“We’re all coming,” Scott replied after a short moment.

“Cora and I will remain here,” Peter added. “Protect the territory.

“Can I just ask about Danny?” Ethan spoke up from behind Stiles. Scott frowned.

“He’s not really a part of the pack, to be honest.”

Stiles was pressing his lips together. Aiden bit down on his knuckle and turned away. Derek was watching them curiously.

“Okay, then,” Stiles cleared his throat. “Two cars or one?”

“We could take one of my dad’s SUVs,” Allison suggested. “That way we’d all fit in.”

Stiles did a mental headcount. “Six. Yeah, that’s probably be better. That way we’d have more room for essentials. It’s a cross-country road-trip to get there.”

“We’re going to be there for the full moon,” Scott pointed out. Stiles looked over his shoulder at his uncle and they exchanged a look.

“I know,” Stiles shrugged when he turned back. “That’s probably for the best. Don’t worry, you can run through the woods.”

His voice wobbled a little, but no one pointed it out. Dan reached out and squeezed his shoulder.

“You sure about this?” he asked, softly.

“Yes,” Stiles answered firmly. His heart blipped.

* * *

Stiles heaved the last case into the back of Chris Argent’s SUV. His uncle was chatting a little with Deaton while the pack were getting ready to leave.

“Is that everything?” Derek asked, coming up behind Stiles.

“I think so,” he replied. “Six cases of clothing and two or three filled with food, water and medi-kits.”

“Are you driving?” Derek asked. Stiles nodded. “Then I’ll call…Shotgun.”

“Too bad, Scott’s already done that,” Stiles smiled tightly as he turned to face Derek.

“Well, I’m the Alpha, so I overrule.”

Stiles snorted. “Whatever you say, Alpha.”

Derek glanced at him. “I can imagine how hard this must be for you. I remember coming back to Beacon Hills last year. It was utterly nerve-wracking.”

“I think I’m scared,” Stiles admitted slowly, “because I have to face up to everything I’ve been running away from all this time.”

“You’re not alone,” Derek assured. “It was hard for me, because I had to do it alone, but you have us every step of the way.”

Stiles nodded. “Thank you.”

They both fell silent until Stiles’ phone started to buzz in his pocket. He fished it out and frowned at the number on caller ID before answering. “Eric?”

Aiden and Ethan snapped round to face him. The Sheriff looked up from his conversation Deaton. Scott appeared at Derek’s side. Stiles moved off to take the call.

“Who’s Eric?” he murmured softly.

“How would I know?” Derek raised his eyebrows at Scott. “Get in the car. I called Shotgun.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I heard,” Scott rolled his eyes before heading round to climb into the car. Allison and Isaac joined him in the middle seats. Lydia slipped into the back seat with a picnic basket of food for the start of their trip.

Stiles returned after some minutes, sliding his phone into his pocket. He looked a bit worried. He stopped to talk to his uncle and cousins but Derek didn’t listen in. If it was important, Stiles would tell him.

“You gonna be okay?” Dan asked Stiles softly. Stiles nodded.

“I have my pack behind me. It’s just going to be hard. Going back.”

“I know,” Dan pulled him into a tight hug. “We’ll see you there, okay?”

Stiles nodded.

“Okay,” he announced, going over to Derek. “Are we ready to go now?”

Derek nodded. “They’re just waiting for you and me. You okay?”

Stiles nodded then shrugged. “I’ve been worse, I guess.”

Derek nodded, understanding. “We’ll be there when you need us.”

Stiles smiled tightly again. “Yeah, I know. Thanks.”

Derek climbed into the car while Stiles moved around to get into the driver’s seat. “Everyone buckled in?” he asked. There were murmurs from the back but a unanimous yes answered.

Stiles pulled out and after waving goodbye to his family, he drove down the road. The first fifteen minutes of the journey were spent in silence until Stiles switched on the radio.

“So,” Derek glanced at him. “The other day, Peter started telling me a little about your family. But I didn’t hear all of it. You okay to tell me?”

“Not much to tell,” Stiles replied. He flicked a glance at Derek out the corner of his eye. He was gripping the steering wheel a little tighter. “There was this Alpha. Her name was Helen. She and Uncle Dan fell in love. I think it was around the time I was born. She had no pack so it wasn’t a big deal at first. Until she fell pregnant with twins a couple months later. She submitted to my mom, married my uncle and then had her sons, named them Aiden and Ethan. Some years later, she had triplets and named them Francine, Esmeralda and Paul respectively.”

Scott opened his mouth to answer, but Derek glance back and shook his head. Stiles would tell them one day. It had taken Derek a while to start talking about the fire. He knew the pain of losing a family.

“How many were in your pack?” Allison asked.

“Thirty seven permanent pack mates,” Stiles answered rigidly

“Permanent?” Lydia echoed.

“Over the years, my mother helped a lot of other wolves. She would take them in and help them find their old pack, form a new one, or just protect them until they could go on their way. They never officially joined the pack, would just stay for a week or two.”

“Your mother sounds pretty awesome,” Allison commented.

“Yeah,” Stiles smiled softly. “She was.”

They lapsed into silence again. Stiles hummed softly along with the music.

“Oh, I spoke to Erica the other day,” he mentioned after a while. “She’s doing well. We planned to meet up some way into the trip. I thought it’d be nice to see her and Boyd again.”

He glanced at Derek, who was frowning a little.

“But they’re not in my pack anymore.”

“I told you,” Stiles waved his hand, “wandering betas. They exist. My sister was one. My eldest sister. Which is why the next Alpha in my family was my middle sister, Willow.”

“I never had any in my family,” Derek murmured. “And my mom never told me about them.”

“Probably because she never deemed it necessary. If you had none in your family, and you weren’t supposed to be Alpha, then there wouldn’t have been much point.”

Derek sat back in silence.

“So who’s Eric?” Scott asked. Stiles smiled fondly.

“An old friend.”

All conversation lulled for the drive.

* * *

“Tell us about the witch,” Allison asked as they crossed into New Mexico some hours later.

“What about her?” Stiles replied tightly.

“Why did she target your uncle?” Derek asked. “What’s the Alpha pack got to do with anything?”

“The Alpha pack teamed up with witches and murdered my pack,” Stiles answered harshly. Everyone fell silent. Stiles was gripping the steering wheel so tight Derek worried it would break. He reached over and loosened Stiles hands a little.

“Probably isn’t something to talk about on the road,” Scott spoke up, leaning forward to make sure Stiles was okay.

“No,” Derek agreed after a moment. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Hey, why didn’t Danny come on this trip?” Isaac asked.

“He was busy,” Lydia replied. “Also, he never joined our pack. Not officially anyway. He had no reason to come.”

“I don’t even know who Danny actually is,” Derek muttered.

“Remember that time we had to trace that text?” Stiles asked. “ _That_ was Danny.”

“Oh.”

“He’s on the lacrosse team,” Scott added. “He’s the goalie.”

“He was Jackson’s best friend,” Isaac put in. Lydia tensed a little at the back but said nothing.

“Yeah, I know who he is now,” Derek cut them off.

“Where are we?” Isaac glanced out the window.

“New Mexico,” Stiles answered. “We’re meeting Erica and Boyd in Oklahoma.”

“Fun,” Lydia murmured at the back, pulling out her phone. Allison turned and started digging through the picnic basket for drinks.

“How long is the trip going to be?” Scott asked.

“If we weren’t stopping, roughly 37 hours,” Stiles replied.

“And you would be driving the whole time?”

“Yep,” Stiles nodded. “I was thinking, we stop and meet Erica and Boyd, stay for a couple of days then continue on our trip.”

“Why did Erica and Boyd leave in the first place?” Allison asked.

“You know, I have no idea. Maybe it was because they were tortured, first in your basement, then by the Alpha pack,” Stiles replied, an edge of sarcasm. “But who really knows?”

No one said anything for a moment.

“Okay, point taken,” Allison answered quietly.

“Sorry,” Stiles apologized after a few tense moments.

“It’s okay, you’re right,” Allison waved it off. “Let’s keep going.”

* * *

Stiles pulled up in front of a motel, some hours later.

“Are we meeting Erica and Boyd here?” Scott asked.

“No, but we do need to check in for two nights. I was thinking Scott and Isaac, Allison and Lydia, and me and Derek.”

“That works for me,” Allison agreed, glancing back at Lydia. Scott nodded.

“Fine,” Derek shrugged. “Do we have money for it?”

“I’m paying,” Stiles answered, climbing out. “I’ll go book us in. Wait here.”

He disappeared and everyone sat in silence until he returned a few minutes later. He passed out keys to everyone. “We can drop our stuff off, shower, eat, whatever. Meet by the car in an hour to go meet Erica and Boyd.”

Isaac climbed out, taking a key, and headed to retrieve his and Scott’s cases. Lydia took another key and Allison got their cases. Derek followed moments later.

“You go first or shall I?” Stiles asked as he unlocked the door and entered the apartment.

“You,” Derek answered, dropping the cases onto one of the beds. “Then you can make something to eat while I’m showering.”

“Do I look like I’m your personal slave?” Stiles asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“No, but I can’t cook to save my life and Scott says you can, so,” Derek shrugged and Stiles rolled his eyes with amusement.

“Sure, sure. I’ll grab some stuff out the car.”

He opened his case and grabbed some fresh clothes to go for a shower. The water was lukewarm but better than no shower at all. He slipped quickly into his clothes.

Derek was reading on the bed when he came out. He glanced up. “How was it?”

“Eh, not the worst shower I’ve ever had,” he smiled, heading out to the car to grab some of the food he’d packed. When he got back, he decided to make just some grilled cheese. Derek was clean and dressed when he plated.

“Hurry up and eat. We need to go meet Berica.”

“So Peter told me to ask you about why they were still in my pack?”

Stiles put the frying pan down. “When I heard about them wanting to leave, it was in Gerard’s basement. I told them not to be idiots. You were probably one of the best Alphas they knew. I compared you to Peter when they didn’t believe me.”

Derek snorted. “They only knew me.”

“Partly my reason. They had no idea what it would be like to be an omega. It would be better if they stayed with you.”

“But what about after?”

“Well, they were taken by the Alpha pack. They never officially left your pack. When they were brought back, I went to see Erica. She said she was leaving and I told her she would always have a place in the pack. I said the same thing to Boyd.”

Derek nodded, munching on the grilled cheese. “Well, thank you.”

“No need,” Stiles replied. “I just wanted them to be safe.”

“So what is a wandering beta? You never told us that.”

“A wandering beta is between an Omega and an ordinary Beta. They can leave the territory, feel no need to stay, but they are still under their pack’s protection.”

“How do you tell the difference?”

Stiles frowned. “I’m not sure. I only knew that my sister was one. I never knew how to tell. I think Peter said that when an ordinary beta leaves, they remove themselves from the pack, become an omega. But a wandering beta still carries their pack symbol and always returns.”

“That makes sense,” Derek pushed his plate away and Stiles gathered them up to dump in the sink.

“Come on, we should go.”

“How do they know they’re wandering betas?” Derek asked, as he followed Stiles to the door.

“Instinct, probably,” Stiles shrugged, opening the door. Everyone else was already waiting. “Come on, Berica wanted us to meet at a theatre, not far from here.”

“Berica?” Allison asked.

“I got tired of saying Boyd and Erica,” Stiles shrugged. “So I combined their names. It made sense, especially since they’re dating.”

“They are?” Scott asked.

“Yeah,” Stiles laughed a little. “How could you not expect that? They travel together, sleep in the same rooms, eat together. Eventually it just happened.”

“That’s cute,” Allison commented.

“So why are we going to the theatre?” Isaac asked.

“Erica says there’s a show on that she really wants to see. I thought it would be good if we met up and joined them for it.”

“I wonder how they’re doing,” Allison commented.

“Fine, probably,” Scott replied. “Erica’s tough and not much can take down Boyd.”

“I almost did,” Derek muttered.

“Not your fault,” Stiles answered.

“Yeah, it was the twins,” Isaac started to say before Stiles whirled around.

“Do you really want to go there?”

Scott stepped in between. “Let’s not fight, guys, okay?”

Stiles turned back around and continued walking. “Come on, we don’t want to be late.”

Derek shook his head a little at Isaac, a warning not to push it with Stiles. Isaac nodded and Scott tugged him along. Allison and Lydia exchanged a look.

“Stiles!” Erica exclaimed when she saw him, running to greet him. “So good to see you!”

“And you,” Stiles accepted the hug warmly. “Where’s Boyd?”

Erica turned and pointed to where Boyd was strolling through the crowd towards them. Stiles headed to greet him while Erica turned to Derek.

“Hey,” she said quietly.

“It’s good to see you again,” Derek returned, feeling awkward. “How have you been?”

“Good,” Erica nodded. “Boyd and I are together. We’ve seen the sights of America and we’ve made a lot of friends.”

“That’s good,” Derek nodded. “I’m glad you’re happy.”

Erica smiled. “Thank you. I hope you’re happy too.”

“I’m getting there,” Derek replied, glancing up at Stiles as he came close with Boyd. “Hey, Boyd. You’re looking well.”

“Thank you,” Boyd replied. “The traveling helped.”

“Awkward,” Stiles muttered as the rest of the pack surged forward to greet the couple. Derek smiled uneasily.

“It’s weird,” he murmured, moving to stand next to Stiles. “Seeing them after so long. I don’t know how I’m supposed to act.”

“Like a human being,” Stiles patted his arm. “We should probably get going. The show starts soon, doesn’t it?”

Erica smiled. “Yes. It does. The theatre’s just down there.” She turned and led the way to the entrance. “It’s really quite quaint.”

“Can’t wait to see the show,” Allison replied.

“It’s hilarious,” Erica grinned, and Boyd nodded.

“We’ve seen it about three times now. Erica can’t just get enough of it.”

Erica fell back to Boyd’s side when they reached the theatre. Stiles offered to pay for everyone and, after a moment of hesitation, Derek stepped up and they split it. Then they headed into the theatre for the show.

* * *

“What happened next?” Erica leaned on her hands.

“I set him on fire,” Stiles answered with a shrug, but those with wolf noses would be able to smell the tension radiating from him.

“Just like that?”

“Just like that,” Stiles confirmed with a nod.

“You’re crazy,” Boyd looked at Stiles with a new kind of respect.

“Nope,” Stiles nibbled on a fry. “Just magic.”

“What about the twins?” Erica asked warily.

“They got a free pass,” Isaac replied, looking mildly irritated.

“What? Why?”

“Because they’re my cousins,” Stiles answered. There was a small silence at that.

“But they were in the Alpha pack,” Boyd glanced around the table. “You can’t just erase that.”

“I can and I have,” Stiles muttered.

“But they must have killed an Alpha to become an Alpha, that’s not just something you can ignore,” Erica pointed out.

“And the other Alphas had to kill their own packs,” Isaac added quietly. Stiles’ eyes flicked to gaze at him.

“I dare you to finish that thought,” he said, his voice dangerous. Isaac stared down at his plate.

“I just meant,” he continued, “you haven’t exactly told us everything.”

“Oh, you want to know what happened to my family. Did you miss the memo in the car when I told you the Alpha pack teamed up with witches and murdered them?”

“That’s my point,” Isaac looked at him properly. “The twins were in the Alpha pack.”

Stiles stared at him for a long moment. Then he stood up. “I’ll see you back at the motel,” he muttered, before turning around and leaving.

“Stiles, wait,” Erica scrambled up and ran after him. There was a brief pause and then Boyd got up and followed her.

“What was that about?” Lydia asked, after another short pause.

“What?” Isaac glanced around. “It was a valid point.”

“It kind of was,” Allison agreed hesitantly. “I mean, we barely know anything about how his pack died. The twins could be guiltier than we realize.”

“I don’t think so,” Derek spoke up. Everyone looked at him. “This is Stiles’ family that died. His brothers and sisters. His parents. His pack. That’s a lot of pain to feel. If the twins were in any way involved with the murders, I don’t think Stiles would be as forgiving.”

“Derek’s right,” Scott agreed. “Look at what the twins did to Ennis. Look at what Stiles did to Deucalion. He wouldn’t open his arms up for the twins if they had something to with it.”

“But Isaac still has a point,” Lydia replied. “The twins had to become Alphas at some point.”

“And I’m sure Stiles will tell us when he feels comfortable,” Scott responded. “Just not today. So no more pushing him like that, okay, Isaac?”

Isaac nodded his agreement.

“Good,” Scott sighed. “Now let’s finish our food and then head back to the motel. Since that’s where Stiles was headed, no doubt Berica will be there too.”

* * *

“So, um, Stiles said you had some concerns,” Erica stood warily across from Derek. They were at some park, having a picnic. “About me and Boyd. In your pack.”

Derek looked up from his newspaper. “Uh, okay…”

“I just wanted to say that, even though we’re not around, we do still consider you to be our Alpha,” Erica twisted her hands together anxiously.

“I understand,” Derek assured. “I’m not going to cast you out for not being around and I’m not going to stop you from traveling just because you’re in my pack, if that’s what you’re worried about, okay?”

Erica nodded, relaxing a little. “Are-Are the twins in your pack too?”

“No,” Derek responded firmly. “I don’t think they’ll ever be in the pack.”

Erica relaxed some more. “So, what’s the deal with Stiles and the twins anyway?”

“They’re related,” Derek replied. “The Sheriff is actually Stiles’ uncle and the twins are his sons. It’s pretty complicated.”

Erica sat down next to him. “Sounds it. Uh, how have you been?”

“Not bad. I started dating someone, she turned out to be the bad guy.”

“Again?” Erica asked before cringing. “Sorry.”

“No, you’re right,” Derek sighed.

“I didn’t mean to be harsh,” Erica looked at him apologetically.

“It’s fine,” Derek shook his head. “I understand what you meant.”

“Okay,” Erica hesitantly patted his arm. “One day, you’ll find someone who won’t be the bad guy, you know.”

“I know,” Derek looked over his pack, his gaze lingering for a moment on Stiles, who was throwing his head back in laughter. “I know. Hey, about this pack thing?”

Erica nodded, looking worried.

“If you ever feel like coming back, then there’ll always be a place for you, okay?”

Erica smiled, looking relieved. “Okay, yeah. Thank you.”

She stood and headed over to where Boyd was feeding some birds with leftover bread. She kissed his cheek and then started talking to him, probably about what Derek had said. Derek looked away and turned to get his newspaper, only to jump when he saw Stiles sitting next to him.

“How did you-” Derek pointed back to the picnic.

“I walked,” Stiles held out his newspaper. “How are you doing?”

“What?”

“How are you doing?” Stiles repeated.

“Uh, fine, why?”

“I was just making sure, you’ve been a little quiet.”

Derek looked at him flatly.

“Okay, quieter than usual,” Stiles corrected. “But point.”

“Everything’s fine, Stiles,” Derek sighed. “Thank you.”

“You know you can talk to us, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then talk to me.”

“Everything’s fine,” Derek reassured. “I’m just enjoying this. It’s been a while since I had a chance to relax and not have to watch my back.”

“You and me both buddy,” Stiles smiled a little. “Come on, we’re about to head back to the motel, so we need to say goodbye to Berica. I was thinking we should get back onto the road. Maybe we can make it to [ _City of Myth_ ] by morning at the latest.”

“Sounds good,” Derek nodded, standing up. “Let’s get going then.”

* * *

“Are you seriously driving for sixteen hours?” Scott asked once they were in the car and leaving Berica behind.

“Well, unless you fancy driving to a town you’ve never been to, yes,” Stiles replied.

“You booked us in for two nights,” Lydia pointed out. “Why didn’t we just set out in the morning instead of now?”

“That’s a waste of money,” Scott pointed out.

“I didn’t pay for the second night,” Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Lydia’s got a point,” Isaac spoke up. “Why didn’t we leave in the morning?”

“Because I didn’t want to.”

“And what if we wanted to?”

Stiles braked so hard, everyone jerked forward in their seat. “You seem to have forgotten, Isaac, that this trip is about me. This is about me going home. You chose to come with me. You deal with traveling at awkward times.”

Then he started driving again. He was much tenser than he’d been in the park, Derek noticed. His shoulders were rigid and he was gripping the steering wheel tighter than he needed to. Isaac seemed to notice this too, and gave up on arguing the point.

“This trip is for me,” Stiles added after a moment. “I’m going home. If I want to get it over before I lose my nerve, then deal with it.”

Then he fell silent again.

In an attempt to break the tense quiet, around five minutes later, Derek leaned over and switched on the radio. It seemed to work, because everyone, with the exception of Stiles and Derek, eventually started talking amongst themselves.

* * *

At around eight o’clock in the morning, everyone got a nasty awakening when Stiles braked hard again and came to a sudden stop on a quiet back road.

“What’s going on?” Scott muttered groggily, wiping his eyes. Derek blinked and looked about. Stiles was clutching the wheel tightly, staring out the window.

There was a sign, next to the road. Derek couldn’t read it but then again, he couldn’t read Greek. But he figured it probably said ‘City of Myth’, from the way Stiles had reacted to it.

“Stiles,” he touched the younger man’s arm. “It’s okay, you can do it.”

It was a long moment before he answered. “No, I can’t.” Then he drove past the sign.

Derek smiled to himself.

As they rounded a corner, the town came into sight. Derek wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting but he was strangely surprised to find it looked normal. Maybe it was because it was named in Greek. But it didn’t look different from any other town in America.

It wasn’t long before Stiles pulled up in front of a motel. He was the first one to climb out of the car. He stared around for a moment, then smiled.

“Where to first?” Scott asked, climbing out after him.

“I honestly don’t know. Probably for a walk,” Stiles shrugged. “You guys can explore if you want. I don’t mind.”

“We’ll just stick with you,” Allison replied. “You can show us around.”

Stiles nodded softly, but he didn’t seem to be listening. He took a deep breath, let it out and started walking down the street. After a moment’s hesitation, the five followed him.

“What’s the smell?” Scott asked, his stomach beginning to growl.

“Food,” Stiles replied, heading for the shop in question. “Hey, Carl,” he called when he entered and saw the man behind the counter.

“Stiles? That you?” Carl glanced up. It was quiet at the moment. “Good to see yeh, kid. Uh, where’s the family?”

“Oh, they’re not around,” Stiles shrugged sadly.

“Awright. What’ll it be, kid?”

Stiles frowned at the menu. “I thought Haggis was illegal.”

“Oh, it is. That’s just some cheap copycat. Don’t buy it, it’s fake.” 

Stiles shrugged. “Okay. The usual, times six.”

Carl nodded his head at the group standing outside. “They yer friends?”

Stiles nodded. “Yep. And they’re hungry.”

“Fish for breakfast, whit’s become o’ the world?”

“Well, we could go somewhere else, if you want. I’m sure there are lots of places that would love to feed us this earlier. Isn’t there a deli?”

“Nah, that shut down,” Carl started making the food. “It’s been five years, kid, since you disappeared. What brought yeh back?”

“Closure,” Stiles shrugged, laying some money down on the counter.

“Half price, kid.”

“Oh, thanks.” Stiles took some of it back and then waited in silence for his food. Carl smiled as he passed it over then Stiles waved and left. He passed it to Scott.

“It’s all the same,” he said before walking further down the street. It was quite busy for eight in the morning but maybe it was normal.

A lot of people smiled at them as they passed, although they were probably smiling at Stiles. Stiles nodded back, even said the occasional word to them.

“I guess you were pretty popular,” Scott said after a while.

“Yeah, I had a lot of friends around here,” Stiles shrugged. “Boyfriends and girlfriends too.”

Lydia snorted. “That’s surprising. You always seemed like such a virgin in that area.”

“I’m not a virgin,” Stiles exclaimed, glancing at her.

“No, he’s not,” a passing man agreed.

“Hey, Johnny,” Stiles greeted cheerfully before turning back to the pack. “It wasn’t him.”

“So who was it?” Lydia glanced around. “There are a lot of cute boys around here.”

Stiles shrugged. “Not really important. It happened a long time ago.”

“So all your shouting in the changing room about the Darach being after you?” Scott frowned.

“Mostly put on. Although, that reminds me…What even happened to Jennifer?”

The pack came to a stop and, after a few minutes, Stiles did too, turning to face them.

“I don’t know,” Scott glanced at the others. Derek looked troubled.

“She may have escaped,” he replied after a few moments.

“Great,” Stiles smiled. “She ran away. Guess we don’t have to deal with her for a while. Her target was the Alpha Pack, right? Not us. We were collateral.”

“You are way too excited about that,” Lydia remarked. Stiles shrugged.

“I’m allowed to be,” he replied. “Where do you guys want to go?”

“Who’s Eric?” Isaac countered.

“An old friend. He happens to be a witch. He found something that I need to look at. Thank you for reminding me about it. Keep an eye out for him.”

“We don’t even know who he is,” Scott pointed out. Stiles turned to face him.

“Witches have a distinct smell, don’t you know? I mean, I don’t smell of it, I smell of Adderall and ADHD, which is a side effect of not using my magic. The energy built up inside of me and it’s why I’m so flailing and clumsy.” Stiles waved his arms about to emphasis his point. “But he’s an active witch, so he’ll smell of magic.”

“What does magic even smell like?”

“How am I supposed to know? I’m a witch.”

“Who seems to know a lot more about werewolves that the actual werewolves in the group,” Lydia put her hands on her hips, scrutinizing him.

“Well, I used to be an emissary, I had to know this stuff.”

“But Derek grew up in a werewolf family and even he doesn’t know this.”

“That’s not my fault.”

“We didn’t have a witch in our pack,” Derek spoke up. “Most of us weren’t taught the difference.”

“Because they would be following an Alpha, who would know, most likely,” Stiles added. Derek shrugged but nodded in agreement.

“Pretty much.”

“But that still doesn’t answer what a witch smells like,” Scott replied.

“I don’t know,” Stiles threw his hands up. “It’s not like I can smell them.”

“What can’t you smell?” a new voice asked, to the side. Stiles spun around with a smile.

“Eric!” he greeted. “How are you doing?”

“Not bad,” Eric shrugged. “Been better. I didn’t realize you’d be back so quickly.”

“You underestimate me,” Stiles glanced him up and down. “So when did you become a witch?”

“A couple of years back. I’m still new at it. But I recognize the signs of a phoenix nearby just as well as you do.”

“Show me,” Stiles gestured to the town around them and Eric turned and led the way. Bemused, the pack followed.

Eric led them into an alley and around to the back of a building. There were varying gasps throughout the pack but Stiles was frowning thoughtfully.

On the back wall, glowing faintly gold, a large Ouroboros was painted.

“Well, it’s definitely a Phoenix,” Stiles murmured.

“Told you,” Eric looked at him. Stiles half-smiled.

“Not that I doubted you. Any idea who it is?”

Eric shook his head. “I don’t have the nose to sniff them out. Speaking of, what can’t you smell?”

“Witches,” Stiles shrugged.

“Was that a dog joke?” Scott murmured to Isaac.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Lydia asked, stepping to Stiles’ side. “Hi. You’re Eric, right? I’m Lydia. A banshee. This is Derek, our Alpha, Allison, my best friend and a hunter, and Scott and Isaac, beta werewolves.”

“Nice to meet you,” Eric nodded, but he was looking at Isaac. “Isaac.”

Isaac smiled a little bit. “You too.”

“Did you say a phoenix?” Allison exclaimed. “As in the mythical fire bird?”

“Not everything’s a myth,” Stiles replied. “Werewolves were a myth at one point, right? And witches. And evil druid creatures. And Kanimas.”

Allison tilted her head. “But a phoenix. That thing was in Harry Potter.”

“What does that symbol have to do with a fire bird?” Isaac asked.

Stiles opened his mouth but Eric beat him to the punch. “An Ouroboros is often associated with the phoenix, because an ouroboros represents a cycle, particularly one that ‘recycles’. The cycle repeats in an ‘eternal return’. In the same way, whenever a phoenix reaches the end of its lifetime, it bursts into flames and is reborn from the ashes. A phoenix’s life cycle often repeats in an ‘eternal return’, such as the Ouroboros symbolizes.”

“Oh,” Isaac nodded. “Cool.”

“Yeah, it is,” Eric agreed. “This witch stuff always is.”

“This is a pretty powerful symbol,” Stiles commented. “What was the power surge like?”

“Uh, power surge?” Eric echoed unsurely.

Stiles turned to him. “Generally, witches have a sixth sense for power. We can feel the energy in the air, feel the power. Certain energy surrounds certain people. It’s how witches can tell what people are. For example, there’s a certain energy around Derek and Scott and Isaac, which tells us they are werewolves. In this instance, when a phoenix or a powerful creature is sensed, the general energy gets more electric and there’s often a surge where it kind of overloads your senses.”

“I didn’t feel anything like that,” Eric shook his head. “But I am new to this.”

“Maybe you haven’t fully tapped into your power source yet,” Stiles tilted his head a little. “It took me a little while too.”

“Can’t you feel the phoenix’s power?”

Stiles shook his head. “I’m not connected to my magic anymore. I…gave it up.”

Eric frowned. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Not particularly.”

“So you don’t use magic at all?”

“Can’t,” Stiles answered simply. Everyone turned to look at him.

“What do you mean you can’t?” Isaac exclaimed. “You burned Deucalion, remember?”

“And healed Derek,” Scott added.

“That was a one off. I had a lot of pent up emotion and it boiled over, causing a flux in my power which was directed at Deucalion. And Derek.”

“But why can’t you use magic?” Lydia asked.

“When I used up all of my magic to heal my uncle, I lost my connection. When I got my power back, I chose not to use it and the connection just faded.”

“So you can never use magic again?” Eric looked strangely upset.

Stiles pressed his lips together. “Who’s living in the house now?”

While the question puzzled everyone else, Eric’s expression turned troubled.

“Some werewolf pack. Sorry.”

Stiles nodded. “You cool with showing my friends around town?”

“Sure. Uh, why? What’s up at the house?”

“If there’s a phoenix town, I’m gonna need my magic. There’s a lot of power up there and I should be able to reconnect to it when I get there.”

Eric’s face broke out into a smile. “Great. Yeah. I’d love to show your friends around. Get to know them a little bit.”

His gaze flickered to Isaac and Stiles suppressed a smiled. “You should probably know Ethan will be coming back too.”

“Is he with Isaac?” Eric asked, causing Isaac to look both irritated and embarrassed.

“No, you’re good.” Stiles patted his shoulder then turned to Derek. “I need you to come with me up to the house.”

“Why?” Derek asked, confused, as Eric stepped closer to Isaac.

“Because another werewolf pack lives there so negotiations will have to be made. I need my Alpha to be present, considering I would technically be your emissary, if I had access to my magic.”

Derek nodded and glanced at the rest of the pack. “What about them?”

“Oh, they’ll be fine. Eric will show them to the local hotspots, excluding the gay club and the supernatural hangout.”

“Spoilsport,” Eric muttered, pouting a little.

“You will wait for me,” Stiles pointed at him. “You won’t be able to get in without me anyway. Fully fledged adult standing right in front of you.”

Eric nodded. “Got it, boss,” he smirked. “See you later?”

“Yep. I’ll meet you in the square in roughly an hour. I bought food so dig in.” Stiles passed the carrier bag over to Eric, before turning to Derek, smiling, then walking out of the back alley, with the Alpha in pursuit.

“Is the house where you used to live?” Derek asked softly, as they left the shop behind.

“Yeah,” Stiles replied. “It’s this massive, white building at the edge of the forest.”

“How many floors?”

“Five, with an attic. Ooh, and a basement. Cellar, it’s a wine cellar.”

“Five floors?” Derek echoed, in shock.

“Yeah. Ground floor had the kitchen, games room, living room, dining room.” There was a catch in his voice that Derek ignored. “Then there were three floors where the pack slept. There were thirty seven of us, remember? The fourth floor was for any guest packs we might have had.”

“What was in the attic?”

“Junk. And the wine cellar contained wine, as you would expect.”

“A lot of wine?”

“Yeah. My parents were almost collectors of the stuff, trying flavors from all across the world. We had wines for different occasions. The day I was born, my dad bought a Polish wine.”

“They got drunk when you were born?”

“No, they didn’t drink it. No one did. They were saving it for my twenty-first birthday. My dad bought a different wine for each of his kids. They never got opened.”

Derek bit his lip. “So what happened?”

“Apparently, there’s some new pack moved in. They probably drank the stuff.”

“No, what happened to your family?”

Stiles tensed. “I told you, in the car.”

“Stiles…”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Stiles interrupted sharply and Derek dropped the subject.

“You can’t have had a wine cellar for six bottles of wine.”

“I told you, my parents were collectors of sorts. We had hundreds of bottles of wine. Those six were just some of the more important ones.”

“What other ones did you have?”

“Well, every New Year, my uncle would go out and buy six bottles of the same wine. Then we’d keep them until Christmas and drink them. Everyone would have a glass. Even the kids. As long as they were over five. They only had like a teaspoonful though, to taste and to celebrate Christmas. If they were over ten, they had a small glass.”

“I thought that was illegal.”

“Not if there’s a responsible adult present. The kids had the wine with the dinner. Then we’d send them to bed and the rest of us would drink. Aiden and Ethan and me, we were only allowed that one wine. Then we’d go to bed and everyone else would go pick a wine of their choice to drink for the rest of the night. They usually slept past noon the next day, but all the kids would know not to disturb anyone. I made breakfast and lunch for them. Pancakes and flavored syrup for breakfast and French toast with a topping of their choice for lunch.”

“Sounds like you had a lot of fun.”

“Yeah, Christmases were awesome. What about you? Did you have any traditions?”

Derek shrugged. “Everyone has traditions, right?”

“Yeah, but what were yours?” Stiles pushed.

Derek sighed. “Every year, on the days leading up to Christmas, we’d watch all these Christmas films. Then, on Christmas Day, we’d watch the original Christmas Carol.”

“Sounds fun,” Stiles commented.

“Yeah,” Derek replied, smiling softly. “It was. We would sit there and quote it to each other.”

“What else?” Stiles asked.

“We never had the traditional Christmas turkey. My dad used to make this turkey stew instead, with potatoes and sausages.”

“Really? We did. It was a bit hard finding turkey big enough to feed everyone. We used to buy two huge ones and then cook one on the barbecue.”

Derek looked at him intrigued. “Sounds like it was a lot of work.”

Stiles snorted. “Me and my mom and my uncle slaved away in the kitchen for like three hours.”

“I can’t really cook,” Derek admitted. Stiles looked at him.

“Really? It was Laura who taught me.”

Derek frowned at that. “Okay, how do you know my family?”

“I knew them when I was younger.”

“But how?”

“You know my mother used to be a part of your pack? Well, when I was born, and they discovered I was a witch, my mother would take me back to Beacon Hills, for one weekend once a month every month, to train with Deaton and your family.”

“I don’t remember you,” Derek replied.

“I know,” Stiles shrugged lightly. “We didn’t really spend a lot of time there. We mostly worked with Talia and Laura and Peter and Deaton.”

Stiles didn’t mention about how he had spent a lot of time watching Derek, fascinated with him. He didn’t see any need for it, plus it would probably seem creepy.

“When did you start learning magic?” Derek asked.

“When I was six,” Stiles replied, faltering in his steps as they turned up a street. “That’s when it started to surface anyway. I mean, I had shown signs of magic pretty much since I was born but when I turned about six, that’s when it became more prominent.”

“So it’s different for everyone?”

Stiles shrugged. “I don’t know, I’ve never really met other witches. But I would think so. I mean, there are many different types of witches.”

“Really?” Derek looked intrigued.

“It’s complicated. There are seven different types of witches. All have different rarities and levels of power.”

“What are yours?”

“I’m the rarest witch, most powerful, second most dangerous.”

“Only second?”

Stiles nodded. “It’s relatively hard to explain. Let’s just leave it, I don’t want to talk about it.”

Derek nodded. “Okay. How much further have we got to go?”

“Just follow this road, up the hill, and eventually a big white house will come into view.”

Derek nodded again and they lapsed into silence as they walked.

* * *

Stiles could feel his magic bubbling a little under his skin, as he stood in front of the front door that was painted yellow. He glanced back at Derek, who gave him an encouraging nod, then rang the doorbell. Silence echoed in its wake.

Derek stepped up to his shoulder right before the door swung open. Stiles opened his mouth to greet the red head at the door but he froze. Derek glanced at him and took over.

“Hello, my name is Derek Hale,” he greeted formally. “I’m the Alpha of the Hale pack of Beacon Hills. This is my emissary, Stiles Stilinski. We are a new pack and we are trying to establish peace and connections with other packs, such as yourself.”

The red head glanced over the two, blinking a little at the way Stiles was glaring openly at her, but nodded and let them in, leading them through to the dining room.

“Of course. My name is Sam Jones. I’m the Alpha of my pack. Would you like to meet my emissary? She’s working on a spell book we uncovered.”

“Yes, that would be good,” Derek agreed, glancing over at Stiles. The anger was radiating from him but Derek couldn’t figure out why.

Sam nodded and headed down the hall to get her emissary.

“This is a nice room,” Derek glanced around.

“My siblings died here,” Stiles murmured in reply, gazing over his shoulder at a wooden box sitting on a side table. Derek frowned.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean…” he trailed off as Sam came back, with a blonde behind her.

“Hi,” the blonde greeted, clutching an old leather bound book. “My name is Julie. I’m the emissary. It’s nice to meet you.”

“And you,” Derek returned, glancing over at Stiles. The anger was intensifying.

“This is a nice house,” Stiles commented distantly.

“Thank you,” Sam nodded, although she looked a tad off guard.

“Lived here long?”

“Um, about a year, why?”

“Just wondering. What’s that box?” Stiles pointed at the wooden one on the side board.

“Family heirloom,” Sam answered, frowning.

“And the necklace you’re wearing? It’s a lovely necklace.”

“My husband bought it for me.” The red head shifted a little. “I don’t understand why you want to know. What’s it got to do with a pack alliance?”

Stiles stepped back. Suddenly, there was hatred seeping into Stiles’ scent and, from her expression, Sam could smell it too.

“Is there a problem?” she asked, rather icily.

“No, there’s no problem,” Derek began.

“Yes,” Stiles cut him off. “There is a problem.”

Sam turned to face him. “Care to explain?”

“I have a problem with you and your pack,” Stiles folded his arms across his chest. His eyes glittered but not from anger. “Taking credit where none is earned. You’re weak.”

“Don’t you dare disrespect me while you are in my territory,” Sam snapped and Stiles exploded.

“You want to talk about disrespecting people? You really want to go there? Tell me again where that box came from? No, tell me again where you got that necklace?”

“I told you,” Sam took a step forward and Derek growled. “My husband bought it for me.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes. “You liar. How do you do that? How can you stand there and trick everyone into believing that you’re telling the truth?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh no? That box in the corner, that doesn’t belong to you. It never did.”

“That box belonged to my grandmother,” Sam defended, but even Derek heard the blip in her heart. He opened his mouth but a blast of light shot through the room.

“That box has my name on it!” Stiles shouted, cutting her off.

Sam glanced around the room, a little shaken, before she turned. “You dare attack me?”

“I dare,” Stiles snarled, sounding so much like a wolf. “I dare attack you on my own soil. I dare accuse you of stealing.”

“Stealing? A wooden box?”

“No, in the end, I don’t care about the box,” Stiles replied. His hands were shaking. Derek stood slightly in front of him, but he was worried. What was Stiles doing? “I care about that pendant.”

“It’s just a necklace. Nothing to do with you.”

Stiles scowled. “I bought that necklace for my mother on her birthday and she never took it off, wearing it every day, until the day she died.”

Sam went white. “You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not,” Stiles relaxed. “That necklace was my mother’s. The box is mine. That book used to belong to Talia Hale until she passed it on to me.”

Julie looked at the book in her arms. “I didn’t know…”

“Maybe you didn’t. But she knew the box wasn’t hers. I left a note inside, asking for it to be left where it was, for anyone who found it. And for someone with a nose, she had to know it was buried where I had scattered my mother’s ashes. My mother’s name is on that necklace. In the end, she had no right to go and wear it like she owned it. And to lie about where she had gotten it was just one more mistake.”

Derek straightened up. His eyes were glowing. “We’ll just take what belongs to us and be on our way, thank you.”

“No, you won’t. You can just leave my house and leave my territory at once. No alliance. You have made us your enemies.”

They were suddenly both hit with an overwhelming scent of grief and pain and Derek wheeled around to see Stiles staring out the window, his eyes glistening with tears.

“I can feel them,” he whispered. “I can hear them.”

“What’s he talking about?” Julie asked, but Derek ignored her. Sam did too.

“It hurts,” Stiles blinked and tears started falling down his cheeks. “I had forgotten but it hurts.”

The window was a floor to ceiling, full wall window, letting in a lot of light. It overlooked the edge of the forest.

“When we got here,” Sam said quietly, “the blood was still here.”

Derek snarled at her, silencing her. He was too concerned with Stiles. “Stiles, look at me.”

Stiles turned back.

“It’s okay,” Derek was crap at the comforting thing but he could try. “We don’t need to stay. We can leave. Once we have your things.”

Stiles nodded, pressing his lips together, before dropping his gaze to the ground. Derek turned to Sam and Jen.

“Put everything that you found in the box, back in the box and we’ll take it with us, no fuss.”

Sam opened her mouth to argue but she shared a look with Julie and sighed. “Fine. Give Julie some time to collect everything. Would your emissary like a cup of tea?”

Derek glanced at Stiles then shook his head. “Just hurry up, okay?”

Julie nodded and hurried off.

* * *

“So you tried to kill her?”

Stiles stared at Scott for a long moment before answering quietly, “Yeah.”

“So you have your magic back?” Eric asked.

“Yeah,” Stiles repeated.

“So we can find the phoenix?”

“Yeah.”

“Whoever knew you could get so possessive over jewelry?” Lydia mused from the corner of the motel room they were all sitting in, after Derek had called them back.

“It was my mother’s necklace and she was wearing it like it was her own,” Stiles snapped.

“Anyone could have done it,” Isaac replied. “There wasn’t any need to almost kill her.”

“He didn’t,” Derek said from the doorway as he returned from the vending machine.

“But he said he did,” Allison pointed out.

“I did,” Stiles agreed. “If that flash of light had been directed at her, she would have been dead.”

“I still don’t understand,” Isaac began but Stiles held up a hand.

“I know you don’t. None of you do. The only one who could, would be Derek. He’s the only one who has been through what I’ve been through.”

All eyes in the room turned to Derek, who shrugged.

“He had a point. The necklace was clearly his mother’s. Even if Sam didn’t know who Claudia was, she could still see the necklace belonged to someone. I’d be mad too.”

“It’s not just about the necklace,” Stiles continued, looking grateful that Derek backed him up. “I asked her about it, more than once. She lied. I knew that necklace wasn’t hers, she knew and she knew I knew. But still she continued to lie. But, you know, it's mostly about the necklace. It’s custom made. I paid for it with my own money. I bought it for my mom…Her name was even engraved on the wolf. She wore it every day. It has sentimental value.”

“Plus the fact it never should have been dug up in the first place,” Eric added. “I always wondered about the connection, but you put charms around the box, didn’t you? Warning charms.”

Stiles nodded, staring at his hands. “I had to protect my family.”

There was a soft quiet in the aftermath of those words. Allison cleared her throat.

“So what’s so important about the book?”

Stiles brightened a little, most likely at the change of subject. “It’s called the ( _Storybook_ ). It’s Polish for Story Book.”

“Storybook?” Scott repeated. “What’s in it?”

“Not a story, I can tell you. It contains details on every known creature to exist. It tells you what they can look like, what their species is like, how to identify them, and how to kill them. It also contains some important spells and rituals for your everyday witch.”

“Which was what the emissary was trying to figure out,” Derek added.

“Because it’s all in Polish,” Stiles smiled gleefully. “It’s our original copy and it’s entirely in Polish. I destroyed the English versions before I left the first time.”

“Why?” Lydia asked.

“I had to,” Stiles shrugged. “Protection.”

“Why Polish?” Eric asked, confused.

“Mom was Polish,” Stiles shrugged. “So, anyway, where’d you get to with the tour?”

Eric glanced around the room. “We were almost done. I was showing them some of the nicer restaurants in town. Good for dates.”

Stiles smiled. “That’s cool. If you and Isaac want to continue you doing that…”

Isaac spluttered, going red. Eric laughed, embarrassed, but he sneaked a glance at Isaac before looking at Stiles, asking silently for permission. Stiles flicked his gaze to Derek, then nodded and made shooing motions with his hands.

Eric smiled then stood up and held his hand out to Isaac. After a brief moment of hesitation, Isaac took it and the two headed out.

“How did you know?” Lydia asked. “About them?”

“Eric used to date Ethan. He was around a lot. It wasn’t really subtle.”

“Yeah, but you’re really oblivious to this stuff.”

Stiles shrugged. “Maybe, but not all the time.”

“Is Eric a good person?” Allison asked.

“What do you take me for?” Stiles countered. “I wouldn’t let Isaac date someone who wasn’t good to him.”

“But we don’t know him,” Lydia replied.

“I trust Stiles’ judgment,” Scott interrupted. “If he says Eric is a good person, then I believe him.”

Stiles smiled over at him. “So, what do you guys want to do now?”

“What’s this about a supernatural club?” Derek asked curiously.

“Oh, yeah,” Stiles stood up. “We could go there. I haven’t been there in years. And I’m twenty one so I can totally drink now.” He spun to face the pack. “Not that I’m going to, but it’s cool that I have the option.”

“What exactly is a supernatural club?” Scott asked.

“Oh, it’s this dance club where all the local supernatural creatures go to have fun and be themselves. You get all kinds there. You could get vampires, witches, succubi, sirens, you name it. It’s pretty cool, actually. I used to go there all the time.”

“Where else could we go?” Allison asked. “I don’t know how comfortable I’d be, considering my heritage and everything.”

Stiles tilted his head but shrugged. “You haven’t seen the gay club but I’m not entirely sure how exciting that would be since I’m the only non-straight person in this room…”

“We could go shopping,” Lydia suggested. “I also want to see that library of yours, it looks big.”

“Oh, it’s amazing,” Stiles smiled, nostalgically. “It’s huge, it has all the books you can imagine. It even has the proper library smell of old books.”

“So shopping then?”

“Yeah, why not? Some of the stores here are pretty cool and they have a witchcraft place down a back alley, which is good to pop into. You can get dream catchers and protective charms there.”

“This sounds like a seriously awesome place to live if you’re a supernatural creature,” Scott commented. Stiles nodded in agreement.

“There’s a reason it’s called the [ _City of Myth_ ].”

* * *

“So when did you learn Greek?” Lydia asked, as they wandered through the town.

“When I was…three.”

“That’s young.”

“I started learning Polish when I was two.”

“Really? What was your mother thinking? Polish is hardest language to learn.”

“She was Polish, she wanted her heritage to be passed on. She learnt it when she was young, because she returned to Poland.”

“Did you master it?”

“Oh, yeah. I had perfected my English by the time I was nine. My Latin was going well, because most of the spells I was learning had to be performed in Latin. Greek was more of a side project. When I turned ten, I focused mostly on Polish and by the time I turned sixteen I was fluent.”

“You’re a lot smarter than I give you credit for,” Lydia murmured, looking almost ashamed but Stiles shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it. Besides, your grades will always be better than mine. You’re very book smart, logical, a quick thinker. I’m more inventive and I know more about the mythical world than you.”

Scott appeared on his other side. “So why did you go back to school if you were…nineteen when you moved here?”

“I never finished my education,” Stiles replied. “I was only sixteen when…when my family died.”

“But you still haven’t finished,” Lydia pointed out.

Stiles shrugged sadly. “It’s only school, really. It’s not going to be important. I have what I need to know. Besides, it would be weird because now you know that I’m older than you.”

“You could just keep pretending,” Scott suggested.

“It would be glaringly obvious. I would know that you know that I was twenty-one and it would just be weird.”

Scott nodded, conceding the point. “We should probably talk to my mom when we get back. She doesn’t know all of this.”

“You mean you haven’t been telling her.”

“I didn’t know how to. This isn’t my story, it’s yours. Besides, I don’t know everything the way you do.”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll talk to Melissa.”

Scott grinned. “Thanks. Can we get lunch now?”

Stiles laughed. “Sure. Pick a place, any place.”

“Can we eat somewhere that has, like, a patio area?” Allison asked from behind them. “I want to eat outside.”

“Uh, sure, let me just think of a place. The deli I used to go to has apparently shut down. Oh, maybe we could go to _Jamie’s_.”

“What’s _Jamie’s_?” Lydia asked.

“It’s this café. The guy named it after his son who went to war and never came back. He and his wife work there. They’re really friendly, a bit weird sometimes, but their food is really good.”

“Okay, we’ll go there,” Lydia slipped her arm through Stiles’.

“Has, uh, everyone just forgotten about the supposed phoenix in town?” Allison asked.

“No, it’s just not a concern at the moment,” Stiles replied, leading them to _Jamie’s_. “I’m still getting used to being powerful again.”

“So you can sense it right now?”

“Oh, yeah,” Stiles pushed open the door into the warm café. “But it’s faint, so I don’t think it’s around right now.”

“Makes sense,” Scott shrugged as Stiles headed up to the counter. “We’ll get a table, then I’ll help Stiles order.”

They headed out back, then Scott left them to go help Stiles.

“Can you believe this about Stiles?” Allison asked, softly. “That he’s been through so much?”

“I can’t believe we missed it,” Lydia replied. “He never showed any signs.”

“He did,” Derek cut them off. “He has PTSD.”

“But he doesn’t show it.”

“He won’t admit it. He pretends he’s fine.”

“He always has been the comedic relief,” Allison mused. “Maybe we were just stupid enough to overlook it this whole time.”

“Sounds about right,” Derek muttered, receiving matching glares from the two girls. He shrugged as Scott returned.

“Stiles is paying, he insisted on it.”

“This place is nice,” Lydia commented, gazing around. The patio was large and open, although there was a wall around it. There were trees dotted around the edge and the picnic tabled were set in the middle, right where the sun shone. There was a little play area for young children at the back and a fenced off pond.

“Do you think a phoenix is dangerous?” Allison asked.

“Will you forget about it?” Lydia nudged her elbow. “Let’s just have lunch, okay?”

“Besides, if it was dangerous, Stiles would have told us,” Scott pointed out, settling in his seat. As if he’d heard his name, Stiles appeared out the door, carrying a couple of plates.

“He’s making the others as we speak,” he dropped the two sandwiches in front of the girls.

“And we ordered cake,” Scott added, as Allison smiled her thanks.

“Hope this wasn’t too expensive,” Derek murmured. Stiles waved away his concerns.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m rich.” There was a sour edge to his words, one that Derek understood only too well.

He turned and disappeared, presumably to get the rest of the food. They waited in silence as he brought out a few more trays, before he settled into his seat and they all started eating.

“Um, Allison was worried about the phoenix,” Scott mentioned after a while. “She was wondering if it might be dangerous.”

“Oh no, don’t worry,” Stiles shook his head. “It’ll only hurt us if we cross it. And we’re not going to kill it. We’re going to protect it.”

“How do you plan on doing that?”

“Um, I’m not sure yet. Honestly, this is my first encounter with a phoenix.”

Lydia raised her eyebrows at him.

“What?” he defended. “It’s not like they’re common.”

“He has a point,” Allison agreed. “My grandfather’s bestiary has a lot of information on rare creatures, but there is no mention of a phoenix anywhere in it.”

“Yeah, that’s because it was deleted,” Stiles replied through a mouthful of his lunch.

Allison frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“Talia couldn’t very well let a hunter like Gerard walk about with information of the rarest of species now, could she? Deaton called in a contact.”

“So you erased it?”

Stiles nodded. “Yep. Well, not me, the contact, but you get the point, right?”

“Who was the contact?” Scott asked.

“No idea. It was Deaton’s friend. He didn’t tell me, and I didn’t ask. I was glad, to be honest.”

Allison nodded in agreement. Derek was watching Stiles.

“You knew my family well, didn’t you?” he asked quietly.

“Yes,” Stiles looked down at his plate. “I did. They were my mother’s family.”

“So when they,” Derek took a deep breath, “when they died?”

“My mother was ill that day,” Stiles let out a shaky breath. “We were about to leave, for our weekend, when we heard and she was sick.”

Derek looked at him. “And you?”

“I, uh,” Stiles cleared his throat, scratching the back of his neck, “I didn’t leave my room for three days. I couldn’t stop crying. I know I didn’t really have the right, they were your family after all, but I just…three days.”

Derek nodded.

“My mom, she-she threw up. When we called Deaton, he said it was probably just grief, she wasn’t actually ill. She was just…sad. We made it to the funeral though.”

“You were there?”

“Deaton invited us. We watched from afar. Left flowers. Visited Peter. Prayed, even though we don’t believe in God.”

“Did-Did you know who did it?” Scott asked.

Stiles swallowed. “My mom, we had our suspicions. No proof.”

Derek looked at him and Stiles looked back. Scott cleared his throat.

“We’re going to head back to the motel, wait for Isaac,” he glanced at the two girls and they nodded their understanding. Then all three stood and left, leaving Stiles and Derek just sitting there.

“So you knew?” Derek asked in the following silence.

“Yeah. Well, I didn’t know know, but I-Well, there wasn’t really anything else.”

“That’s why you hate the Argents.”

“I hate the Argents for a lot of reasons. Including what Gerard did to Boyd and Erica. But primarily, the fire, yes. Allison being an exception to that, of course.”

“How can you stand it?”

“What?” Stiles asked confused.

“To be around us when you know what we did.”

“We?”

“Me and Allison.”

“Derek…I don’t blame you. I never did. It wasn’t your fault, okay? It was hers, she tricked you. She used you. You were young, naïve, you had no idea.”

“I thought I was in love.”

“We’ve all been there, Derek, we’ve all fallen in love and thought she was the one. Just look at Scott. But Kate took advantage of you when you were in a vulnerable state, when you were grieving and looking for comfort after Paige.”

“How do you know about that?”

“Your mother told us. And, before you say anything, I don’t blame you for that either. No one does. Paige wouldn’t either. You know she wouldn’t. You tried to help her.”

“I killed her.”

“It wasn’t your fault. You had to. There are other people at fault, other people who are to blame for the death, but not you.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because it’s true,” Stiles answered simply.

Derek looked hard at him. “Do you think I’m a bad Alpha?”

“Honestly, yes,” Stiles replied. “But you weren’t prepared. You were never meant to be Alpha, no one can really blame you for being horrible at it.”

“So why do you follow me?”

“Instinct, I told you. Besides, you’re getting better. You just need guidance.”

“From you?”

“From lots of people,” Stiles shrugged. “But, yes, me, if you want it.”

Derek tilted his head a little. “Do you trust the twins?”

“With my life,” Stiles nodded, unperturbed by the change of subject. Derek nodded, apparently coming to a decision that he didn’t share with Stiles. He stood up.

“Come on, we should go.”

“Sure,” Stiles nodded. He gathered up their dirty plates. “I’m feeling pretty tired anyway. Hey, I brought my _Doctor Who_ DVDs. You think the pack would be up for a marathon for the rest of the day?”

“Which Doctor and which companions?”

“I didn’t bring my _Classic Who_. Ten and Rose, Ten and Donna, and Eleven and Amy/Rory, except for season seven because I don’t like Clara and the only good episode she is in is the 50th but I don’t have that on DVD.”

“We’ll let the pack decide,” Derek shrugged, pulling out his wallet so he could leave a tip.

“Hey, this lunch was supposed to be on me,” Stiles pointed out as they headed back inside.

“Well, I’m tipping the guy. I likes my sandwich.”

“You also feel sorry for him because he lost his son, right?”

“So?”

“Nah, man, I feel the same. I always pay him too much and tell him to keep the change. It’s no fun, losing your family.”

Derek hummed, dropping a ten onto the counter as Stiles slid the plates across. The owner was in the back, getting more juice. They slipped away before he returned.

“Secret Doctor Who fan, huh?” Stiles asked, smiling softly.

“I like it. It’s not a big deal.”

“What? I just never knew you did.”

“Well, I’m not the hermit everyone seems to think I am,” Derek snapped a little.

“Hey, I never thought that,” Stiles replied quietly.

“I guess you didn’t.”

“Do people really think you’re a hermit?”

“I told someone that I’d majored in Architecture and Art History, and she looked like I’d stripped naked and kicked her. So probably.”

“That’d be pretty surprising too,” Stiles mused. “Art History, huh? I thought you would have gone for English.”

“I thought about it.”

“But architecture…Are you going to be doing anything with the old house?”

“I haven’t really decided yet.”

“Because it’d be pretty cool if you rebuilt it. You could make it smaller. You need a place to live properly. And you could turn it into a real pack den, for full moons.”

“I guess,” Derek thought about it. “What’s going to happen with the full moon at the weekend?”

“There’s the woods. We can run on the left side. Right side is out of bounds. Completely. Well, I don’t really have that authority, but you know, try and stay away from it. Right side when you’re looking at the house.”

Derek nodded his understanding. “That’s your family?”

“I burned them, you know.” Stiles was staring at the ground. “After they were dead, and the pack had left, I burned my family to ashes in the woods.”

Derek surreptitiously moved closer. “You going to be okay?”

“Are you?” Stiles returned. Derek smiled a little to himself.

“How do you think Isaac is doing?”

* * *

“This is really fancy,” Isaac looked around the restaurant they were in.

“Well, I like to treat my dates,” Eric smiled. “But it’s not really. It’s made to look fancy but it’s actually one of the more intimate ones. We get more privacy.”

Isaac blushed a little under the dim light. “Are you suggesting…?”

“No,” Eric hurriedly interrupted. “I meant, more privacy if you’re a little shy. Although I could be, if you wanted me to be. But we can cross that bridge later, yeah?”

Isaac nodded. “Okay, I understand. It is quite cozy in here. So this is a proper, romantic date? You’re not expecting anything?”

“Of course not,” Eric reassured. “I want this to be proper. I’m not entirely like Stiles, you know.”

“I-What?” Isaac looked at him, confused. Eric shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter. What I mean is, we don’t need to take this any further than an intimate dinner and a goodnight kiss.”

“Okay, that’s good. Because I don’t really feel comfortable pushing any boundaries…” Isaac trailed off, staring at his hands on the table.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s good that we set boundaries in the first place. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I just want us to have a good dinner and get to know each other.”

“Okay,” Isaac nodded. “I like that. I want to get to know you.”

“Okay, what would you like to know? Ask me whatever you want. I’ll tell you, I’m not exactly the most open person, but I’ll tell you what I can.”

Isaac nodded again. “Okay. I just kind of want to get this out the way because I really want to know, but how do you know Stiles?”

“To be blunt, I dated his cousin, Ethan for a while and I…We slept together. I’m turning twenty in a few weeks, just to warn you. Does that bother you?”

“No, not at all. I’m seventeen, it’s only three years. And we’ve just established boundaries. Plus, if you have Stiles’ vote, then you’ll probably have Derek’s and he’s my legal guardian, so…”

“Oh?” Eric’s interest was piqued.

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” Isaac murmured. “It’s important, but I’m just not comfortable with it right now.”

“Of course,” Eric agreed. “Whenever you’re ready. So how did you become a werewolf?”

“I met Derek and he helped me. It’s part of the thing I don’t want to talk about, though.”

“I understand. Alright, um, I’m guessing family is off limits. But friends. How did you become friends with everyone in your pack? Was it just because you’re pack?”

“Uh, no. Actually, when Derek became an Alpha, he turned me and two other teenagers. We all went to the same school, were in the same year, although, apparently Stiles is older. Scott was turned first. Then this kid called Jackson. Around the same time, Lydia apparently became a banshee. Then Derek bit me and the other two. Jackson left, Boyd and Erica left and we all became a pack.”

“Sounds complicated,” Eric remarked.

“It is, a little bit. Jackson became a Kanima after he was bitten. But we all thought it was Lydia.”

“That probably raised a few arguments.”

“Mostly between Scott and Derek because they wanted to approach the problem differently. They have always kind of been argumentative. I think it’s because Derek was raised to believe the bit was a gift, but Scott didn’t feel the same way.”

“Does he agree now?”

“I think so. We don’t really talk about it. It has brought a lot of problems though. Hunters, the Kanima, more hunters, the Alpha pack, the Darach.”

“Darach,” Eric echoed, unfamiliar with the term.

“Some kind of evil druid, apparently. She was sacrificing people to gain power so she could take revenge on the Alpha pack. We were kind of caught in the middle. The Alpha pack was after us and then they were after the Darach too. It got really messy.”

“I guess it would. Everything all fixed now?”

“I would think so. Stiles killed the Alpha of the Alpha pack.”

“Why?” Eric frowned.

“Um, I don’t know the full story but the Alpha pack apparently killed his family.”

Eric nodded. “That would make sense. Would that be the Deucalion you were talking about earlier? The one he burned?”

“Yeah,” Isaac stabbed at his food. “There was an argument about that too. Some of us though Deucalion deserved to live. Scott said he deserved a second chance. Now that I think about it…”

“What?”

“Well, at the time, Stiles said he’d had his second chance. I didn’t understand what he meant though. I guess I was kind of insensitive, looking back. Without realizing, though. Because at one point, I said it wasn’t like Deucalion had killed his pack. I meant, like Deucalion hadn’t killed anyone particularly important in our lives, that we had no right to decide his fate.”

“But now that you know, you realize that Deucalion had killed his family.”

“Yeah. I guess I should apologize for that. But enough about me. I wanna hear about you.”

* * *

_The picture they’d gotten from hacking the security camera wasn’t much but it would do._

_Jennifer Blake took the bone handle dagger and started carving a smallish circle in the ground, big enough for her to kneel in but small enough to be unnoticeable from afar. She whispered a quick incantation and the circle glowed faintly for a brief moment._

_At the five points of the star, she placed a black candle and lit each one. In the middle of the circle, she placed an open jar._

_She pulled on her gloves and dropped the picture into the bottom of the large jar. Then she carefully picked up the bit of barbed wire and wound it round in a spiral before dropping it on top of the picture. She sprinkled jasmine berries into the jar then oleander leaves._

_"_ Deorum inferorum, exaudi vocem meam _,” she spoke firmly. “_ Finis unius Mori volo. Eum malum, et ducite eum in dolore. Ex animo elabi testam _.”_

_Jennifer poured salt into the jar, enough to cover the contents, and poured vinegar in, enough to bathe the salt. She screwed the lid on tight. Then, at the five points of the star, she dripped on drop of candle wax onto the lid._

_In the middle of the circle she dug a hole, placing the jar in it, before filling it in again. The candles were still burning at the points of the star. Then she gathered up everything but the candles and headed back inside the abandoned house to tell the Alpha it was done._

_Hours later, well into the dark, the last candle finally burned out._

* * *

Somewhere in Georgia, in a motel, a blood curdling scream of pain rose into the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, so what did you think?
> 
> I left it at a cliff hanger, because there will be other works in this series and I love dramatic cliff hangers. I didn't translate the spell words, because they aren't the words of the spell I used, I just made up a poem and translated it into Latin. I don't recommend translating it back.
> 
> The werewolf Sheriff was majorly unexpected for me. I needed something to puff the fic out and bam - suddenly there were witches and Derek was biting Dan.
> 
> There is a place like _Jamie's_ in my home town. Stiles' opinions about _Doctor Who_ are my own. I made a dozen references to stuff in this. I'm not native to America so I don't know accents. Carl is Scottish and I wrote down the words the way I said them.
> 
> I'm posting this at four am. Any mistakes will be sorted later.
> 
> These are the two spells I used. I edited them to fit my own needs:
> 
> [Blood Curse](http://www.spellsofmagic.com/spells/health_spells/death_spells/1260/page.html) and [Prolonged Suffering Spell](http://www.spellsofmagic.com/spells/health_spells/hurt_spells/14856/page.html)
> 
> I already know when Derek and Stiles will have their first kiss in this series. However, they won't get together right after, it will be a while later.
> 
> Just a little FYI, my birthday is the 5th of August, so two weeks. [My Tumblr, just in case :)](http://always-a-friend-never-a-lover.tumblr.com/)


End file.
